


As Things Happen

by AcrylicMist



Series: As things Happen-verse [2]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Demons, Canon-Typical Violence, Demonstuck, Explicit Language, Family Feels, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Magic, Obliquely referenced CSA/trafficking, Politics, Sexual Content, Slow Burn, Soulmate bullshit, Violence, godawful flirting, now with smut, shenanigans of many sorts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-06-07 08:56:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 26
Words: 101,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15215606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AcrylicMist/pseuds/AcrylicMist
Summary: Karkat meets Dave at a club and things go better than expected until they don't anymore.The new club DJ is cool, charming, flirtatious, and sweeps Karkat right off his feet. Karkat dating the new hot DJ seems too good to be true.Dave's also hiding something, and Karkat's determined to find out what it is.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> It's NanoWrimo time and to procrastinate my actual Nano Project I accidentally wrote more fanfiction
> 
> I'm five chapters in and I'm admitting that yeah, I might as well get to posting it. This is going to be a fun one!

Chapter One

Karkat generally disapproved of clubs. It wasn’t his kind of crowd. He wasn’t a dancer or a drinker and the loud music and flashing lights gave him migraines but Sollux was deejaying and carless so Karkat had been roped into tagging along as DD. Karkat sat at a table in the back of the room, drinking water and seething as the too-loud music assaulted his eardrums. 

Sollux was at front of the dance floor, the stage slightly raised and surrounded by empty cans of whatever liquid energy sugar death he’d been drinking, his headphones clamped around his neck. He rarely looked up from his gear while preforming, just minor checks to judge the crowd and read the room.

The beat was pulsing, throbbing out an electric rhythm in time with the lights. The club was respectable and swanky, some high-end neon swingers outfit in chrome and glass that Karkat normally wouldn’t get caught dead in under his own power. The things he did for friends. Karkat sighed and swept his gaze across the dance floor, watching the mob of people. It was late on a Saturday night and all kinds of city denizens had come out to trade the night away in the seconds between each sick riff Sollux jammed out from his gear. 

The music wasn’t that bad once Karkat got over the volume, and at the back there were no dancers to bother him. Sollux had made sure to hook him up with one of the few private booths available, and below him the black-and-white checkered dance floor was a packed, sweaty sea of limbs and legs. 

Karkat fiddled with his phone most of the time, alternating between the same four apps as his blood pressure rose and boredom grew. His headache was starting to throb between his temples. He texted Kanaya an endless list of bulleted complaints about his shitty night but deleted it before he hit send, trying to calm himself down. 

Karkat wasn’t sure what made him look up. A whisper, a feeling like cool fingers skittering down the back of his neck. His head turned automatically, his hand reaching up to clutch the iron charm around his neck Aradia had forged for him one night after a few of her ghosts decided to linger. 

This felt a little like that- a fleeting snatch at his awareness, the subtle urge to look up as if someone had looped a string around his heart and cinched it tight. 

He felt the eyes before he found the person they belonged to, and then Karkat didn’t actually see the eyes at all. The overhead lights glinted off black lenses, the smooth, slick shine of black glass as it caught and reflected the pulsing light of the club. 

The motherfucker that was staring at him was wearing shades on the dance floor, the one unmoving face in the crowd. They shielded his eyes and his most of his expression from view, but Karkat knew eye contact when it happened. 

He wasn’t expecting the confused, embarrassed flush to creep up his neck and face in a wave of heat and he snatched his head back down, gulping water and nearly choking on it in his rush to look distracted.  
That was probably what Karkat had felt- some weirdo stranger attempting to engage in a staring contest. Well, he wasn’t fucking interested. 

Was the guy still watching? Karkat risked a glance and the dancer with the shades had vanished back into the crowd. He almost felt relief but a twinge of disappointment bit at him as well, as if he’d turned the page of a good book only to see a blank page staring up at him. Like something left unfinished. 

Karkat could still feel the lingering tingle in his skin, sharp and electric. He blamed it on the migraine. 

Karkat kept getting flashes of the stranger as Sollux’s set continued. Each glimpse was a Polaroid’s snapshot that flashed itself into Karkat’s mind; a scene told in stills, each one like a breath of fresh air in the smoky room. Shades was over by the bar, lounging his lean frame against the counter as he chatted with the bartender. He was in the dance pit weaving expertly between the gauntlet of thrashing limbs. Karkat spotted him by the sound booth, the locked door closing behind him. The guy was constantly moving, but he never left Karkat’s sight. 

It wasn’t hard to keep track of him- the guy stood out. Dark pants, red jacket, pale hair that shone silver under the lights. Those glasses were a dead giveaway- no one else was stupid enough to wear shades indoors, in a darkened room, at nearly three in the morning. 

Karkat had to admit he was intrigued. Watching the guy ghost around the room was far more entertaining than scrolling through Instagram. 

Sollux’s first set ended with a bang, and his friend took his break to the roar of applause from the crowd. A pre-programmed synth board took over and the sound of classic club bangers shook the air. 

“How’d I do?” Sollux asked, grinning as he slid into the private booth. He was wearing his DJ uniform, a monstrous blend of yellow and red fabric that to this day gave Kanaya nightmares. His signature red-blue glasses cemented his ‘I’m the fucking DJ’ douchebag look. Karkat hated it with a passion but that was a battle he’d lost months ago. 

“It was not as terrible as I’d been expecting,” Karkat admitted. 

“Have you been sitting here the entire time?” Sollux asked, smirking back a shit-eating grin. “Really? You’re single- get out there and be social.” Sollux reached out and swiped Karkat half-empty glass and took a sip. He made a face when he realized it wasn’t booze.

“I have an 8am class in the morning,” Karkat said, narrowing his eyes. “Do not judge me for being responsible.”

“I’m just saying you should get out there and have some fun,” Sollux said, abandoning the captured glass to streak the collected beads of condensation he wiped off the glass in patterns of two across the tabletop. “Plus your ass looks hot in those pants.” 

“You’re a shameless shiteater,” Karkat told him, blushing over his annoyance. He was still worked up from his budding migraine and the mysterious dancer. Somehow, Sollux could tell. He was always good at knowing exactly how to piss Karkat off. 

“Who caught your eye?” Sollux asked, wagging his weedy eyebrows knowingly. “That violetta chick? Brad? The bartender?” He said, chuckling to himself. “God, I hope it’s not the bartender. You can do better.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Karkat said, determined to admit nothing. That was of course the instant he caught the mysterious stranger’s gaze again, this time from over Sollux’s shoulder. Meeting eyes was like putting his hand on a livewire. He could feel his face light up. Karkat was 100% certain the guy was staring straight at him even through the dark glasses blocking his eyes. Somehow, Karkat’s face flushed redder. 

Sollux instantly whipped around, scanning the crowd with a practiced eye for whoever had caused the blush. 

Karkat shot him the middle finger as Sollux slowly turned back around. “Asshole.”

“Not him,” Sollux said, an odd note in his voice. “Don’t go home with that one.”

Karkat didn’t ask how he knew the exact person because the guy was still fucking staring directly at Karkat. He wasn’t even trying to hide it. 

“What?” Karkat said, incredulous. “It is absolutely none of your business if I decide to go home with someone.”

“You’re my ride, fuckhead,” Sollux shot back, contemplating the now empty water glass on the table. Karkat’s throat still felt too dry. He had to force a swallow. 

“Plus, as your best friend,” Sollux said, winking mischievously over his red and blue glasses. “I’m hereby ordering you not to fuck my competition.”

“He’s a DJ?” Karkat asked, surprised. “You know him?”

“Yeah, I know him,” Sollux shrugged. “He’s damn good too. Aside from myself of course, I’d say he’s the best one in the Tri city area.” 

“Oh,” Karkat said sarcastically, huffing as he rolled his eyes. “I see how it is. So you’re either jealous or you have a crush on him yourself.”

“Fuck off, kk,” Sollux laughed like the idea was ridiculous. “The answer to both of those baseless assumptions is no because unlike you, I can respect other people without instantly harboring a crush on them.” 

Karkat scowled. That was a low blow. Sollux laughed harder and clapped him on the back. “Whatever though, if you’re really into him that’s fine, just don’t expect me to third wheel anything.”

“You know if he’s single?” Karkat asked curiously, not even really considering pursuit. He just wanted to drag Sollux along so he’d stop pestering him about interacting with people for the rest of the night. 

“I know he’s got a reputation,” Sollux said, wincing like he’d remembered something unpleasant. “He’s an aloof asshole, kk. I’m serious. Actually, I change my mind. Don’t fuck him. Choose literally anyone else in this shitty club.”

“The fuck is wrong with you?” Karkat asked, suddenly enraged. “What made you the expert on who I should or shouldn’t date?”

“I don’t know, Karkat,” Sollux sighed. “I hear things is all. He’s not exactly the dating type.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Karkat demanded. 

“He’s a player and a heartbreaker,” Sollux said grimly. “I know he goes home with a different person every night. He’s not going to be interested in anything that lasts and I know how you fucking are, Karkat. You get attached. I don’t want you walking into this like a lamb to slaughter.”

“I’m not a fucking lamb. I’m an adult and I’ll fuck whoever the hell I want,” Karkat growled, even though one night stands weren’t really his thing. Sollux was just being exceptionally difficult and Karkat wasn’t going to roll over on this. He had fucking standards, and not letting Sollux butt into his personal life was one of them. 

“Rumor says he’s Daemon kind,” Sollux said quietly. “Do you really want to mess with that?”

Karkat bit back his scathing response, swallowing thickly. The pounding music suddenly didn’t seem so loud. “It’s still none of your fucking business,” he said, surly and aggressive and looking for a fight. His skin felt like it was too small. He wanted to be doing something- anything other than sitting here in a club whose name he couldn’t remember with this abrasive asshole of a best friend. 

It must have showed on his face, the rising thundercloud of explosive verbal assault an inch below the surface of Karkat’s flushed skin as Sollux realized maybe he’d crossed a line. 

“Just keep yourself safe,” Sollux said, pleading. “I know I’m an abrasive douche but I’m trying to warn you.”

“I can take care of myself,” Karkat said, scowling. 

Sollux was called back onstage to begin his next set. The crowd was chanting for him, jumping to the rhythm like mindless beasts. Sollux bit back another sigh, his face twisted with concern and irritation. “Karkat…”

“You should get back to the stage,” Karkat said coldly. “You wouldn’t want to keep your fans waiting.”

Sollux didn’t go easily, and he kept looking back at Karkat as he made his way reluctantly back to the stage. 

Karkat didn’t care. He was busy sulking. If Sollux wanted to be an asshole, he would be an asshole right back. Karkat continued to catch glimpses of the shades guy. Every time Karkat saw him he was closer. 

With Sollux’s warning in mind, suddenly the added closeness didn’t seem like coincidence. Was he being stalked? Karkat couldn’t help but scan for any inhuman hints in the tall stranger. 

No horns, so he wasn’t sedim. His skin was pale, but nothing like the white luminescent gleam that marked vampirism. His hands weren’t tipped with claws, and the guy was clearly talking and interacting with people around him and that scratched off fey, infrit, and yokai. If he was a demon, Karkat couldn’t tell what kind. 

He looked human... but the dark glasses covering his eyes were definitely suspicious. Was that intentional? Some kind of a rebellious statement? Did every DJ own shitty glasses? 

“Hey.”

Karkat was startled out of his internal debate by a quiet voice. He looked up and there was Shades McDouche himself, the inscrutable bastard. 

“Are these seats open?” The guy asked, leaning on the back of a silver chair. 

Karkat raised his eyebrows. Being curious and wanting to fuck with Sollux wasn’t the same as actually being interested in the dude, but Karkat was petty and knew Sollux was glaring daggers from the stage so he feinted interested surprise. It was easy to recall how this was done, to lower his voice, to raise one side of his grin higher than the other to highlight the dimple there. “Who’s asking?” Fuck moral high ground- this was _fun._

“Just a guy with tired legs,” the stranger said, shrugging. 

“I don’t mind,” Karkat said, moving further into the booth to make room for him. The guy was tall and his legs crowded the space under the small booth. Karkat had to bend his knees to keep their feet from touching under the table. 

This close, Shades definitely looked human. Pale, almost white hair and a lean, muscular frame. The part of his face that wasn’t covered by the shades revealed fine cheekbones and a strong jaw. Those damn lips looked downright _sculpted._ He was wearing an eye catching red blazer- jacket combo that was simple and elegant, well-worn professionally casual though his scuffed shoes looked like they’d seen better days. 

There was something magnetic about him all the same. He drew Karkat’s eyes to him and held them. 

God, his heart was racing. “You’re a DJ,” Karkat said stupidly, running his mouth before his brain caught up to it. “Sollux mentioned you.”

The guy looked pleasantly surprised. “You know Sollux?”

“We’re accidental roommates,” Karkat answered. 

“He sounds like a pleasant guy to live with,” Cute Sunglasses Fucker said, making an attempt at conversation. 

Karkat could physically feel Sollux’s dismay from across the room. The tempo of the music increased, building to a maddening level of intensity. “He’s awful,” Karkat said, wondering how the fuck flirting worked. “He’s ok with music, but he’s just as much as a pompous ass outside of work.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” The guy said. “I don’t really interact with my work crowd outside of the club scene,” he mentioned, a small grin playing at the corners of his lips. “But, for you I might make an acceptation.” 

This interaction was going so much in Karkat’s favor that it made his head spin. “Why’s that?” Karkat asked, completely shameless. He knew the guy was flirting back and it was actually exciting. He’d been out the dating scene for a while and the interest was flattering. It made him feel nice and warm inside, plus the guy was fucking hot and that made everything that much more intense. “You see something you like?”

The guy smiled and it was beautiful enough that Karkat felt the expression tug at his heartstrings and constrict his lungs. This guy was unfairly attractive. “I see everything I like,” the stranger answered. 

This couldn’t be happening. Hot guys don’t just walk up and complement people like Karkat, but like hell was he going to throw away this golden opportunity. “I wondered,” Karkat said, leaning closer to mirror his position, mingling their personal space into one bubble. Faces close, lips pursed. Karkat hadn’t felt this way in months. “I’ve noticed you watching me tonight.”

“It’s hard not to,” Shades said, grinning. “I know most of the faces that hang around here. You stand out.”

Karkat had to turn his face away to hide his answering slow grin. His heart was fluttering like a schoolboy’s. “My name’s Karkat.”

“Dave,” he answered smoothly. A light flashed in strobes from his watch, and Dave sighed in irritation and flicked the alarm off. “I’ve got to run, my set’s up next, but I’d definitely like to continue this conversation later.” He slid one of Sollux’s DJ cards over and flipped it around, inking out a span of digits across the back. “If that’s alright with you, Karkat.”

The way he said Karkat’s name was unusual, like he said it just to taste how the letters sounded together. It would have been fucking weird if Dave hadn’t turned the syllables into music.

“I might look into it,” Karkat said, not looking at the phone number Dave handed him, lightly teasing. “It depends on how well your set goes.”

“Is that so?” Dave asked, equally playful. “You drive a hard bargain, but it’s a date.” He nodded at the card Karkat held. “It’s not often I give out that number- it’s my personal one. But it seems like I’m breaking all my rules tonight, so fuck it.”

“So this means we have a date?” Karkat felt lightheaded from victory as he shared an open, easy grin with Dave. It was surprisingly easy how comfortable Karkat was talking with him. Most people instantly grated against his nerves, but somehow Dave had effortlessly bypassed Karkat’s strict social defenses with an ease that left him breathless.

Dave returned the look, breathing deeply as his shoulders relaxed. His smile was infectious. “It’s definitely a date.”

Karkat smiled again, and for once he didn’t feel awkward or short or inferior. It didn’t feel like his hair was a wild mop of black and his teeth slightly crooked. He felt fucking amazing- was this all Dave’s doing? He had a date. Karkat had a date!

Dave winked before he gracefully quit the table, leaving the business card with his number behind for Karkat to hold close to his chest. 

Karkat watched as Dave vanished back into the crowd as Sollux’s set reached its finale with electric bravado. 

There was a gap between the two performers, and Sollux rejoined him at the back booth with a sour but curious look on his face. “I saw you two talk,” he said, not bothering to sit down. “What? You get tired of just eye-fucking each other from across the room?”

Karkat flashed the back of the business card at him triumphantly. “I got his number. His _personal_ number.”

“No fucking way,” Sollux said in disbelief. He fell into the seat beside Karkat and tried to swipe the card. “Strider gave you his number?”

“I told you it was none of your business.” Karkat said smugly, a warm heat burning through him as he flicked the card away from Sollux’s nosy fingers. 

“Well I’ll be damned,” Sollux grinned, clapping him on the back. “Maybe you’re not hopeless after all. Are you gonna call him?”

“Not tonight,” Karkat said decisively. “I’ve got to get you home for one, and I don’t want to seem too eager.”

“Damn,” Sollux whistled. “Karkat, when did you get skills?”

Karkat laughed breathlessly, clutching the card. “Let’s get your ass home. I actually have class in the morning.”

“Fine, ok, but let’s at least stay so you can hear Strider start his routine.”

Karkat spotted Dave weaving expertly through the crowd. Under the flashing strobe lights he moved with a grace that made him seen insubstantial, a ghost on the dance floor. Karkat couldn’t help but imagine what those arms might feel like around him and he felt his ears burn scarlet. 

Karkat didn’t see the girl until she draped herself over Dave, a brunette waif in a dress more skin than cloth, making sure to press her breasts flush against him as she drew him in for a kiss. She locked her hands around his neck and drug his face down for a sloppy, open-mouthed kiss that was more tongue- grope than anything. 

The warm thing in his gut that had been slowly growing all night fell dangerously still at the sight. 

Dave clearly wasn’t expecting it- he’d startled slightly, at first, but he also wasn’t complaining. He kissed her back, dipping her into a low spin to deposit her into the mob of her shrieking friends. Karkat could see him laughing, completely unbothered as he flirted back. Karkat felt sick.

“Goddamn,” Sollux sighed, disgusted. “It didn’t take him long to move on to his next conquest tonight.” 

Karkat shrugged, struggling to look detached. “It’s fine,” he said. “I don’t actually know the guy.” He held Dave’s number for a second before a final resolve filled him. He slowly, carefully tore the card into very small pieces and left them in a small, neat pile on the tabletop. He hoped Dave would find them later and see the shredded pieces. 

“Hey, Karkat,” Sollux said seriously, his face worried. “I’m sorry. Strider’s famous around here for being an asshole, don’t let it get to you.”

“Let’s just go,” Karkat said, feeling cold as he came down from the high he’d felt earlier. Sollux followed him obediently outside, quiet for once as the first beats of Shady Douche McFuckface’s music chased after them.


	2. chapter two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm generally not a fan of any chapter two's, but this one might be bearable

Sollux was being loud again and all Karkat wanted to do was study. He had an exam next week and all of the noise Sollux was making shattered his concentration. “Sollux,” He said, gritting his teeth as he closed his book. “Not to give you the wrong idea or anything, I’m actually really glad you’re moving back in with Aradia, truly I am, but do you have to do that right fucking now?”

Sollux stopped trying to force several metal pots into a box that was clearly too small for them. “This would go faster if you’d help, you know.”

“Call Aradia,” Karkat said, raising his book for the sole purpose of buying his face in it. “You’re going to do it anyway, so you might as well get it over now.”

Sollux casually flicked him off as he pulled out his phone. “Fine,” he said. “But don’t blame me if she burns your lazy ass.”

Karkat huffed and rolled his eyes. “Kanaya’s coming over later,” he said. “So I have to finish reading this book about this dead poetry guy no one living gives a shit about _before_ she gets here.”

Sollux whistled, a sharp, tinny noise. “You’ve sure been in a sour mood since that DJ douche snubbed you.”

“He did not snub me,” Karkat complained. “There was no snubbing. Things had not progressed enough for that to be a thing that could happen.”

“So what would you call that?” Sollux asked, “Because I call that macking on someone else less than 30 seconds after agreeing to a date.”

It did sound bad when said like that. Stark and merciless- leaving no room for Karkat to convince himself that it had been some kind of mistake. At the very least it was fucking rude, and insensitive, and assholey. Or maybe he’d just been too desperate and misread the entire thing. That was also a possibility. 

Maybe that was why three days later Karkat couldn’t get the guy out of his head. 

“I don’t care,” Karkat said, throwing himself back into chopped lines of prose. “I’m over that guy, because we were never even a thing.”

There was a knock on the door before Aradia burst into the room, her sudden rush so fast that Sollux startled hard enough that he dropped a box of cookware on his foot and spent the next ten seconds cursing. 

“Sorry!” Aradia said brightly, not sorry at all.

“Well if you’re here you might as well help me move all this shit out,” Sollux said, rubbing the soreness out of his crushed toes. “That row of boxes can go down to my car.”

“These?” She asked, slapping the stack nearest to her.

“Yeah,” Sollux said. “But be careful- they’re really heavy.”

“I can manage them,” Aradia promised. “I bet I don’t even need to touch them.”

“Aradia, wait,” Karkat interjected quickly to ward off potential disaster. “Why don’t you try out a box of non-breakables first?”

Sollux shot him a grateful glance as Aradia took aim at a box labeled ‘clothes and shit’. She took a deep breath, squaring her shoulders. Her wild black hair began to move on its own, twisting in an invisible wind as she threw out her hands. Staticky white sparks jumped off the tips of her black-painted nails, and with a shudder the box rose into the air. “See? I’ve been practicing,” Aradia said proudly, hovering the box across the room to wait by the door. She set it down gently, still grinning as she shook off the sparks her telekinesis left on her hands, scrubbing them clean on her skirt.

“Maybe now we’ll get done on time,” Sollux chipped in happily, forcing the last of the pots into a box and strangling the top with packing tape to keep everything contained. 

Aradia continued to smoothly lift the heaviest piles of boxes. Karkat went back to his reading assignment as Sollux’s psychic girlfriend threw heavy objects around his living room and chatted with ghosts he couldn’t see, because sometimes that’s just how life goes. 

Karkat was able to tune out most of the chaos of packing until Sollux cursed loudly. There was a loud thump as the box Aradia was carrying dropped to the floor like its strings had been severed. Aradia was standing ramrod-straight, her eyes glazed over with the dull, frighteningly blank white they got when communicating with spirits.

“Sollux! Karkat! Turn on the news!” Aradia ordered, her voice a whip-crack.

“What?” Karkat said, sitting up at once. “What’s happened?”

“Aradia, what the fuck?” Sollux complained, nudging the busted box with his foot, its guts strewn across the floor in a wad of books and the mismatched socks he’d crammed between them as packing material.

There was something wild in her eyes. “I don’t know yet,” she said, smiling painfully wide. “But I can hear them. The spirits are happy! Turn on the news!”

Sollux switched on the TV from across the room by throwing a copy of DATA STRUCTURES FOR ASSHOLES at the boxset. The screen popped with black and white fuzz until Karkat fished the remote out from between the couch cushions and put on the news.

At first the headline didn’t make sense, but then things started to click together.

“They’re repealing the ban on Daemons in office?” Karkat asked, watching as on screen a tall, slender vampire shook hands with council members as she was sworn in. Karkat recognized the black tattoos that wound across her arms and framed her chest at once. Holy hell, this was happening. 

“Holy shit,” Sollux said. Aradia was grinning from ear-to-ear, bouncing up and down with excitement. “So they’ll be strengthening the Daemon Accords then. That means stricter laws, increased equality for everyone.”

“They did it,” Karkat said numbly. On screen there was a celebration, the black and red flag of Daemon kind flying high over city hall. “I was expecting at least another month of delegations. Dad said they were nowhere close to reaching a decision yet.”

“You should call him,” Aradia said happily. “This is his victory too, Karkat.”

“I can do that later,” Karkat said, reaching for his phone. In all honestly his dad was probably somewhere in city hall, lumping together piles and piles of new laws for the congress to consider next week with a smile on his face. “Right now I’m calling Kanaya.”

She didn’t answer her phone. Karkat tried texting her with similar luck. He was buzzing with excitement and he wanted to share it with her.

It took Kanaya another ten minutes to make it to his apartment, and when Karkat threw open the door to let her in she was positively gleaming. Her skin was glowing bright enough that looked like she was lit from within by her joy.

She immediately pulled Karkat in for a hug, grasping at his shoulders. “Porrim did it,” Kanaya said, sniffling, still a little shell-shocked. “I had no idea it would happen so soon.”

“Me either,” Karkat said, secretly pissed that Kankri or his Dad hadn’t filled him in. 

“Did I interrupt something?” Kanaya asked, looking over the messy row of half-packed boxes that littered his living room.

“I’m finally leaving Karkat alone to waste away in peace,” Sollux said, snickering. “Me and Aradia were able to secure rent for our new place. We move in next week.”

“Congratulations,” Kanaya said, still beaming, her twin fangs tucked elegantly between her carefully-painted lips. “Though I’m sure Karkat will miss your company.”

Both Karkat and Sollux snorted, but it was a friendly sound. There wasn’t much that could have killed his mood right now. He was getting his spare bedroom back, and his dad’s platform had successfully begun its long, hard task of dismantling two centuries-worth of ass-backwards legislation against Daemon kind. 

And shit- that was his dad onscreen. “Shut up and turn up the volume,” Karkat said, leaning forward, his eyes locked on the screen. Aradia drug Sollux down onto the couch beside her as the four of them crowded around Karkat’s small TV. 

“This has been a great victory for both Daemon and Mankind,” Dad said, looking directly into the camera and damn, Karkat was so fucking proud of his dad in that instant. The feeling filled up the empty spaces in his chest and bubbled up through his core in fierce waves. “On this day, equality won. Acceptance won. From this day forwards, Daemon kind will have an equal leg in this race. They will have the freedom to represent themselves within our communities, a freedom they’ve too long denied.”

Reporters crowded in, camera’s flashing as the focus moved back to Porrim posing on the steps, surrounded by the other council members. Karkat nudged Kanaya, pointing out the other vampire onscreen. “That’s your sister.”

“She’s you sister too,” Kanaya said, sighing.

“Really?” Karkat said, innocently sarcastic. “Because I’ve always thought of her more like an older cousin.”

That won a small, brief laugh from her. “What does that make Kankri?”

“A minor annoyance sadly related to me by blood,” Karkat joked.

“Well you’re certainly happy,” Sollux said, grinning at his phone.

“Duh,” Karkat said. “Any idiot with a brain could have figured that out. We should order a pizza. Food will make this night so much better.”

“I have something better than pizza that might make the rest of your night,” Sollux said, smirking as he turned his phone screen around to flash a line on unfamiliar texts at Karkat. “You’ll never guess who just texted me.”

“Who?” Karkat asked curiously, squinting at the phone before Sollux turned it away. 

“Strider,” Sollux said, his entire body smug. “And he’s asking me for your number.”

Karkat went still, his shoulders stiffening. He couldn’t help it. “You’ve got to be fucking with me.” His belly suddenly felt like a nest of snakes. 

“I’m not,” Sollux said, “I swear I’m not. How the fuck did you make such an impression that he dug up my number to ask about you?”

“Who?” Kanaya asked curiously, her green eyes mischievous.

“This guy Karkat met at the club,” Sollux blurted out before Karkat could stop him. Sollux leaned back on the sofa, fanning himself. “Apparently Karkat’s seduction skills are better than I’d have ever fucking guessed.”

“Sollux, I swear to God if you give that asshole my number…” Karkat trailed off threateningly.

“Sheesh kk, who do you take me for?” Sollux griped, slipping his phone back into his pocket. “Phone number? Why the fuck would I do that?”

Karkat relaxed, letting out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

“Obviously I gave him you Chumhandle,” Sollux continued, and Karkat thought of eight places where he might be able to hide Sollux’s skinny body from the police for long enough to make it out of the country. “Texting’s fucking lame- nobody texts anymore.”

“Why. The FUCK. Would you do that?” Karkat forced out, his hands in fists. 

“Because,” Sollux said. “You’re still fucking pissed at that guy, don’t try to hide it. This is a good day! Why don’t you take it easy with the hating yourself stick and instead let this asshole know exactly how he fucked up?”

Karkat opened his mouth, then closed it again in consideration as the terrible, wonderful implications hit sunk in. “Sollux,” he said at last. “You’re an evil genius.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After this the game is on ;) 
> 
> Oh look at that- I tried to do a politics. I'm having fun with worldbuilding again but this time its with modernist demons send help


	3. chapter three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok most people know about the windstream internet crap that's been going on for the last 12 days but I got wifi back at last so I'm back to posting.

Chapter three.

Karkat got the unfamiliar Chum invite in the morning. He narrowed his eyes at the screen and set his fingers to the keys, ready to unleash his wrath. He’d spent all night planning out how best to annihilate the guy over what happened. Karkat had a lot of misplaced rage… and Dave had unwittingly made himself the perfect target. 

turntechGodhead (TG)  wants to send  carcinoGeneticist(CG)  a message!

carcinoGeneticist (CG)  accepted the Chum request!

CG: ATTENTION WORTHLESS DJ.  
CG: THIS IS YOUR GOD SPEAKING. IT IS A WRATHFUL GOD WHO DESPISES YOU MORE THAN YOU COULD HAVE POSSIBLY DARED TO FEAR. HOWEVER YOUR PATHERTIC LIFE HAS SO FAR UNFOLDED, NO LEVELS OF PREVIOUS MISERY WILL BE ABLE TO COMPARE TO THE SHITSTORM YOU ARE ABOUT TO EXPERIENCE.  
CG: YOU MAY QUAKE AND TREMBLE IN YOUR PERSONAL PRAYERS OF SHAME WHILE YOU PLEAD FORGIVENESS FOR BEING SUCH A WRETCHED DISGUSTING FAILURE ON EVERY CONCEIVABLE LEVEL, BUT YOUR PRAYERS WILL NOT BE ANSWERED. THERE ARE NO MIRACLES IN STORE FOR YOU- ONLY MY HATE. IT IS A HATE SO PURE AND HOT IT WOULD CONSUME YOUR SAD UNDERVELOPED MIND TO EVEN CONTEMPLATE. IT IS A HATE THAT WILL SURELY DESTROY YOU. MY HATE IS THE LIFEBLOOD THAT PULSES THROUGH THE VEINS OF YOUR PUTRID EXISTANCE FROM HERE ON OUT. IT IS MY GIFT TO YOU, YOU UNGRATEFUL PIECE OF SHIT.  
TG: hey karkat  
TG: so i was thinking about our date  
TG: i couldnt help but notice youd ripped my number up into a thousand tiny pieces and also never called i had to stoop down to getting your contact info from sollux and i dont think my fragile manly pride will be able to recover  
TG: anyway, date. im thinking something simple but classy i know a guy who runs this hole in the wall thing on the river and they have the best breadsticks karkat youre going to have to trust me on that these breadsticks are to die for  
CG: WHAT.  
TG: what times are you free? i have a busy schedule but i can make something work. what about tomorrow night at eight?v  
CG: WAIT WHAT THE FUCK.  
CG: DID YOU EVEN BOTHER READING ANYTHING I SAID? I TYPED ALL OUT VERY CLEARLY.  
TG: well yeah its kind of hard to miss that solid block of gray text in all caps  
TG: seriously is your keyboard broken?  
TG: nvm it doesnt matter what do you think about tomorrow at eight?  
CG: I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS. THERE IS NO WAY YOU’RE ACTUALLY THIS STUPID. DAVE WHAT THE FUCK?  
TG: i dont know what you mean is there some kind of question there or  
CG: DAVE! YOU ABSOLUTE MOTHERFUCKER! I DON’T WANT TO GO ON ANY FUCKING DATE WITH YOU! I RIPPED UP YOUR NUMBER AND BLEW YOU OFF AND INSULTED THE FUCK OUT OF YOU UNDER WHAT DEFINITION WOULD THIS EVER COME ACROSS AS A GENUINE INTEREST!?!?  
TG: see its not my fault of you blurted out all your deepest darkest heartfelt emotions to me during the opening lines of our first conversation i get it i have that effect on people  
CG: WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN? THERE IS NOTING THAT I SAID THAT COULD EVENR HAVE BEEN MISTAKEN FOR ANYTHING OTHER THAN HATRED, BECAUSE I HATE YOU. THIS IS A FACT OF THE UNIVERSE NOW. MY HATE FOR YOU MIGHT AS WELL BE THE FINAL LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS.  
TG: the way i read that was youve got a lot of strong emotions for me some that youre really not even sure how to name yet so you call yourself something like ‘the lifeblood of my universe’ and youve got to admit that sounds like youve got a crush the size of texas on me plus there was that whole part about giving me some kind of gift  
TG: also just then you mentioned blowing me off like damn karkat im not that kind of lady i only accept blowjobs on the fourth date because like any proper southern bell youve got to date the right proper shit out me first  
CG: I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS.  
CG: I’M GOING TO HAVE AN ANEURYSM. I CAN’T FEEL MY CHEST BECAUSE OF THE FORCEFUL RAGE I’M FEELING. IT’S INDESCRIBABLE. I HAVE ASCENDED TO NEW LEVELS OF HATRED.  
TG: youre welcome  
CG: DON’T EVEN FUCKING START WITH ME ‘DAVE’! LIKE THAT’S EVEN YOUR REAL NAME.  
TG: and im supposed to believe that karkat is yours?  
CG: YES THAT’S MY ACTUAL NAME, SHITFACE. KARKAT. KARKAT VANTAS, AND YOU’D BETTER FUCKING REMEMBER THAT BECAUSE I’M YOUR NEW WORST NGHTMARE.  
TG: oh shit vantas? like… karter vantas? big guy, just won a political victory by the skin of his teeth by supporting that vamp?  
TG: oh my god yes i can see it now you look just like him  
TG: omfg youre a preachers son how the hell did i not instantly mark that omg hahahahaha this is great  
CG: ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!!!!!  
CG: LEAVE MY DAD OUT OF THIS! AND FOR YOUR INFORMATION PORRIM IS MORE THAN QUALIFIED FOR HER POSITION, UNLIKE YOU IN ANY POSITION EVER BECAUSE YOU LACK A MINIMUM OF TWO FUNCTIONING BRAIN CELLS.  
TG: ive got enough brain cells to wonder why you never called  
TG: it really hurt my feelings yo  
CG: SO YOU CAN COMPREHEND THAT I NEVER CALLED YOU YET FAIL TO GRASP THAT MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, I’M NOT FUCKING INTERESTED?  
CG: THE ONLY DATE WITH YOU I’LL BE GOING ON IS TO WATCH YOU WRITHE IN A PIT.  
TG: kinky  
CG: AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!  
CG: I CAN’T TAKE THIS!!!!! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?  
TG: personally i dont think theres anything wrong with me aside from the fact that im still dateless  
CG: YOU’RE A PERSISTANT FUCKER I’LL GIVE YOU THAT.  
TG: i was serious about being interested and wanting to get to know you. i thought you were too  
TG: did i do something wrong?  
CG: I CAN’T BELIEVE I’M HEARING THIS. YOU SERIOUSLY DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU FUCKING DID?  
TG: nope  
TG: care to enlighten me?  
CG: I’LL SET THE SCENE. PICTURE THIS- US, TOGETHER AT THE BOOTH HAVING JUST AGREED TO A HYPOTHETICAL DATE.  
TG: hell yeah i remember that lets go back to right then the date was a good idea  
CG: NOT SO FAST! DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED APPROXIMATELY THIRTY SECONDS LATER?  
TG: i had to go onstage to preform  
CG: AND?  
TG: i left you with my number  
CG: CLOSER.  
TG: the club was crowded and i was worrying about some fucker spilling booze on me as i cut through the dance floor and oh goddammit  
TG: you saw that huh  
CG: YES, I DID IN FACT ’SEE THAT’.  
TG: so what did it look like  
CG: IT LOOKED LIKE YOU WERE MAKING OUT WITH ANOTHER PERSON LESS THAN A MINUTE AFTER ASKING ME OUT!  
TG: define making out  
CG: YOU’RE SERIOUSLY MAKING ME SAY IT? ARE YOU JUST THAT DENSE? I KNOW WHAT I FUCKING SAW THERE’S NO WAY THAT I DIDN’T SEE YOU AND THAT GIRL LOCKING LIPS.  
TG: i didnt kiss her back i dont even know her  
CG: SO YOU WANT ME TO BELIEVE THAT RANDOM GIRLS JUST THROW THEMSELVES AT YOU?  
TG: kinda this isnt the first time ive had to deal with unsolicited advances of the kissing kind  
TG: she probably recognized me as a dj and she was drunk and wanted to make an impression and i cant say it hasnt happened before  
TG: i didnt ask for it and i certainly didnt enjoy it  
TG: im sorry that it happened but you cant blame me how was i supposed to react? did you want me to slap her and storm off in a cloud of lovelorn swagger like this was some trashy ya novel  
TG: i work at that club a lot. i cant risk pissing anyone off and part of that means not pimp-slapping every person that thinks its a great idea to plant an unwanted kiss on me  
TG: honestly im glad that she only kissed me you wouldnt believe some of the shit ive had to deal with karkat  
TG: so  
TG: im not trying to say that what you saw didnt happen im just telling you it wasnt like that i swear  
CG: OKAY.  
CG: MAYBE YOU’RE RIGHT. I DIDN’T THINK ABOUT HOW WORKING THERE MIGHT HAVE TIED YOUR HANDS AND I MAY HAVE OVERREACTED. MAYBE.  
CG: BUT I STILL DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY YOU HAD SOLLUX GIVE YOU MY CHUMHANDLE. LIKE, OUR ONE DATE DIDN’T GET TO HAPPEN AND I’M SURE THERE’S A DOZEN OTHER BETTER PEOPLE THAN ME WAITING IN LINE TO DATE YOU.  
CG: WHY ME? WHY ALL THIS EXTRA EFFORT FOR A GUY YOU ONLY KNEW FOR LESS THAN FIVE MINUTES WHO’S DONE NOTHING BUT INSULT AND BELITTLE EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU EVER SINCE THE START OF THIS CONVERSTATION?  
TG: you really want to know?  
CG: YES.  
TG: ok but youve got to promise not to tell anyone  
TG: this is a secret that only exists between the two of us no one else must ever, ever find out  
TG:… its because those breadsticks are on sale this weekend and theres no way i can eat my way through their $5 platter special on my own, not without backup  
TG: i tried once, took home all the leftover sticks and feasted on bread for days and it was the worst decision of my life i cant do that again karkat i just cant ill never be able to look at a breadstick again  
CG: YOU’RE COMPLETELY INSANE.  
TG: thats beside the point  
CG: IF YOU’RE TRYING TO WOO ME IT’S NOT WORKING.  
CG: DAVE, I DON’T KNOW YOU. YOU DON’T KNOW ME. OKAY YEAH I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO OUR DATE BUT THAT WAS DAYS AGO WHEN I WAS CAUGHT UP IN THE MOMENT.  
TG: so we did have a moment haha i was right  
CG: SHUT UP!  
CG: WHAT I’M TRYING TO SAY IS THIS ISN’T GOING TO WORK OUT. I’M FLATTERED THAT YOU THOUGHT I WAS WORTH IT BUT ITS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. I’M SORRY.  
TG: i dont understand  
CG: WHAT’S NOT TO UNDERSTAND?  
TG: ok  
TG: i get it  
TG: youre not interested i understand and ill leave you alone after this if youll at least tell me why  
CG: I AREADY DID. WE DON’T KNOW EACH OTHER.  
TG: isn’t that the point of dating? to get to know the other person?  
CG: I’M MUCH TOO BUSY FOR DATES.  
TG: me too  
CG: SO YOU AGREE WITH ME AT LAST?  
TG: no. im still willing to try this  
TG: i want to try this, that is, if youll let me  
CG: AND YOU SWEAR THAT THESE ARE IN FACT THE BEST BREADSTICKS IN THE CITY?  
TG: i totally swear  
CG: ALRIGHT. YOU GET ONE CHANCE TO CHANGE MY MIND. ONE DATE, AND WE’RE NOT ACTUALLY DATING. WE JUST… HAVE A SINGLE DATE SCHEDULED.  
TG: no biggie  
TG: how does saturday @7 sound?  
CG: I CAN MAKE IT WORK.  
TG: so ill see you then?  
CG: IT’S A DATE.

Karkat slapped the top of his laptop shut before Dave responded, trying and failing to hide a grin. He’d quickly lost steam after Dave’s confession and, somehow, had agreed to a date. Again. 

“What are you smiling at?” Sollux quipped, disassembling the wall of tech gear that took up the short hallway outside his room while Aradia sat studying in the corner. “I’ve heard you typing away over there. Are you having a blast tearing that douchebag with a dick a new asshole?”

“I have a date,” Karkat announced grandly, not even a little bit ashamed. 

Sollux goggled at him, eyes bugging while Aradia smirked and set her book down. “I win,” she said smugly, extending one hand towards Sollux. “Pay up.”

“Goddammit, kk,” Sollux complained, dramatically falling onto the pile of wiring.

“You fuckers had a bet?” Karkat said, already furious again as he glared at his two friends. 

“AA, I don’t even have $20 bucks,” Sollux laughed helplessly. “Karkat, why?”

“Oh I’m sure you can find other ways to pay me back,” Aradia said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively while Karkat shrieked and threw a pillow at her. It was official- his life was insane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is by far the shortest chapter, and noe it's time to get this story moving!
> 
> PLOTPLOTPLOTPLOTPLOTPLOTPLOT


	4. Chapter four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's go on that Davekat date like I know you've all been waiting on ;) 
> 
> There is fluff inbound. the DavexkarkatxBreadstick OT3 is back full-force

The rest of the week passed quickly. Sollux finished moving out that morning and everyone went out for a celebratory lunch afterwards. It was the first time Karkat had been Porrim since her promotion, and she spent the entire time harassing him after Sollux let slip that he had a date that night. It was a good day, and the reality of the looming dinner date began to set in once Karkat was back at his apartment.

With Sollux gone, he nearly didn’t recognize the place. The walls looked stark, bare of Sollux’s posters and bee-themed art. The bookcases were emptier, the cupboards worn thin. The echoing silence that pulsed from behind the now-empty guest bedroom door was louder than it should have been. 

Karkat was used to the silence that came after moving day. He’d experienced this same type of eerie stillness after Kanaya and Porrim had moved out at the start of freshman year, then again once their replacement Eridan got his own place. Then there was John, Tavros’s bro Roofio, plus a few people from the church who’d fallen between places until Sollux had agreed to spend a semester subleasing the famous Vantas spare room until he and Aradia could finalize their living arrangements. 

Karkat sighed as he walked past the closed door and into his room. He hated living alone. As abrasive as he could tend to be, Karkat thrived around other people. He’d grown up surrounded by other people and the still, empty space of his apartment felt twice as bad as it normally did. He’d miss Sollux living with him, though he’d never admit it out loud because that smug fucker would never let it go. 

Anyway, he’d find someone else to sublease to shortly. His apartment might have been small and cramped and the old building sort of falling apart, but it did have two rooms and a landlord who would look the other way. Karkat would offer what he could, even if what he had to give was nothing but a small bed and a promise not to annoy each other to death on purpose. His Dad had taught him that you look out for those that need you. 

He got an alert on his phone and quickly checked his messages.

twinArmageddons(TA) began Pestering carcinoGeneticist(CG) at 5:48pm!

TA: 2o… are you gettiing ready yet?  
CG: NOT YET I STILL HAVE PLENTY OF TIME.  
TA: feeliing nervou2?  
CG: THAT’S NORMAL ISN’T IT?  
TA: how bad ii2 iit? liike on a 2cale of one two ten?  
CG: I DON’T FUCKING KNOW, SIX MAYBE? IT’S JUST A DATE. YOU DO KNOW THAT I CAN HANDLE MYSELF RIGHT?  
TA: ii know  
TA: but iif iit goe2 horriidly you can alway2 2hoot me a me22age and ii’ll be riight there two piick you up, you know that riight?  
CG: THANKS. NOT THAT I’LL NEED IT, BUT THANKS ANYWAY.  
TA: ju2t try not two make an iidiiot of your2elf any more than you do normally and you’ll be fiine.  
CG: WOW.  
CG: I’D TELL YOU TO FUCK OFF BUT I FEEL LIKE THAT’S GETTING A LITTLE PREDICTABLE. I NEED TO KEEP MY INSULTS FRESH AND AVALIBLE FOR USE WHEN I ACTUALLY HAVE A FUCK TO GIVE, SO I WON’T EVEN BOTHER WITH TELLING YOU TO FUCK OFF LIKE YOU CLEARLY DESERVRE, YOU UNBEARABLE SHITSTAIN OF A HUMAN BEING. YOU’RE WELCOME FOR THAT. LOOK AT ME, BEING A NICE FUCKING PERSON.  
TA: don’t 2ay anythiing liike that and you’ll do great.  
TA: now get out there and woo that hot piiece of a22!  
CG: FINE, I WILL.

Truth be told, Karkat was feeling a little nervous when he set his phone onto his bed. He swallowed thickly before at last turning towards his closet.

Here was his biggest dilemma- what the fuck was he supposed to wear?!?!

Karkat grew more and more frustrated as he dug through the depths of his closet. Most of his clothes were his normal brand of dark, loose fitting unattractive garbage. Everything not black or baggy were Sunday church clothes that made him look like a choir boy on drugs. And what if Dave dressed up? Did that mean Karkat had to as well? 

Aware that he was running out of time, he quickly texted Kanaya.

carcinoGeneticist (CG) began Pestering grimAuxiliatrix (GA) at 6:11 pm!  


CG: KANAYA SOS.  
CG: I DON’T HAVE ANYTHING TO WEAR ON THIS DATE THAT WON’T MAKE ME LOOK EITHER HOMELESS OR CATHOLIC AND I’M NOT EVEN FUCKING CATHOLIC.  
GA: Have You Checked The Box Under Your Bed Containing All Of The Clothing I Gave You Last Christmas?  
GA: You Know, The Clothes You Said You’d Never Wear Based On The Fact That I Chose Them With The Mistaken Intent Of Changing Your Wardrobe For The Better?  
CG: OH THANK GOD SIS YOU’RE A LIVESAVER.

Karkat dove for the box. He’d totally forgotten its existence over the months and there were still reindeer frolicking around on the red and white paper until he ripped the box open. Inside he found a simple dress shirt and a pair of nice slacks. The shirt was a deep, subtle jade that was dark enough to feel comfortable. It was a little wrinkled and musty from being boxed for so long but he slapped that shit onto the ironing board and finished getting ready with seconds to spare, texting his everlasting gratitude to Kanaya all the while. 

Karkat walked down to the subway. The river was across town and he arrived at the scenic Riverwalk right on time. He strolled over to the guardrail and leaned out over the water, watching the lights bounce off the waves. Dave said he’d be at the fountain, a large water work featuring a huge marble angel with water overflowing its clasped hands. Karkat liked the fountain because the city maintained a small shoal of goldfish in the shallow waters to keep the fountain from becoming a mosquito breeding ground.

There was no sign of his date as Karkat dipped his fingertips into the cool water, watching the orange flashes beneath the surface dart around. He considered texting Dave but shrugged the idea away. The clock tower began to toll the hour, and in his pocket Karkat felt his phone vibrate.

turntechGodhead (TG) began Pestering carcinoGeneticist (CG) at 7:00pm! 

TG: i see you  
TG: your hot date is inbound as we speak  
TG: idk i feel like that last part was a little uncalled for my bad  
CG: CAREFUL DAVE, YOU’RE LAYING IT ON A LITTLE THICK.

Karkat looked up. Somehow Dave was standing directly across from him, his figure blurred through the falling water as he gave a little wave. Karkat rolled his eyes to hide his smile as Dave came around the fountain to join him.

A part of Karkat was surprised. He’d know that the DJ had pale hair but he’d brushed it off as a light blonde in the club, but now in the light from the setting sun and the ten billion different city lights Karkat saw it’s true color- a pure unbroken white. Those still-present shades turned his pale face into a contradiction of itself, offset only partly by the red he was wearing. Karkat found it disappointing that Dave was still wearing those dark shades that masked so much of his face.

It was Dave’s smile that did it. Small, shy, slightly nervous… Karkat found it so ridiculously endearing that it made no fucking sense. What the hell? Okay, he knew Dave was more than a little easy on the eyes but it shouldn’t be having this effect on him. Where had his common sense gone? 

“Hey,” Dave greeted him, his smile growing larger. 

“Hey,” Karkat said stupidly, trying and failing not to stare. 

Dave just smiled at him, completely caught up in the moment until Karkat loudly cleared his throat. 

At least he wasn’t the only one caught staring. Kanaya’s expert taste in clothing was doing it’s job even if Karkat couldn’t quite see Dave’s eyes to confirm his suspicion. “You look surprised,” Karkat said. “Were you expecting me to stand you up?”

“Not really,” Dave answered, falling into place beside him, still grinning like he owned the world. “The restaurant is this way.” Dave walked differently when he wasn’t on the job. He took up less space, his chin tilted down, and was content to quietly stroll along the Riverwalk with Karkat at his side.

It felt fucking nice- that brash bravado and showmanship from the club vanished to reveal something genuine buried beneath the layers of pseudo arrogance that Karkat had worried would be too much for him to handle for an extended period of time. Karkat hated to feel less, but like this Dave didn’t outshine him. They matched. 

The small eatery was a true hole-in-the-wall establishment, the narrow door down a side alley to the back of the main Riverwalk thoroughfares and a quiet step away from the madness of tourists and afternoon joggers out for a scenic walk. A hand painted sign hung above the door proclaimed the name ‘Skians’ in sky-blue paint. Grapevines crept up the aging brick wall and hung from the beams. The name tugged at something familiar, but Karkat couldn’t recall where he’d heard that name before. 

The man working the server’s stand instantly shot Dave a sour look and made a show of checking his watch. “So that cat comes back with the sun still up! That’s a first for you, isn’t it?”

Dave smiled sheepishly and shrugged. “You know me, I work nights.”

“I should chase you out now, especially after last time,” the man said, already gathering up a menu with a good-natured wink, his finely-groomed mustache bouncing as he noticed Karkat and his eyebrows rose. “But I see you’ve brought company.”

Dave raised his hand solemnly, effortlessly charming. “I’ll be on my best behavior, I promise this time.”

Karkat narrowed his eyes. Did Dave take all of his conquests to this restaurant? Was he another interchangeable part of Dave’s well-worn script?

“Well, I’ll make an exception,” the man said, waving them inside as a fast, sharp bitterness seeped across Karkat’s hunched shoulders. “But only because you’ve never brought anyone else along before! And here I was thinking that you were some rapscallion!” The man chatted lightly as he led them to an open table and Karkat instantly felt bad for doubting Dave so quickly. He had to stop that- Dave had done nothing to deserve the burden of disproving each of Karkat’s past relationship hangups. 

“I’ll leave you two to it,” the man said, arranging the already set table for two. “Your server will be along shortly.”

Karkat slid into the seat facing Dave, his heart starting to pound as he mentally reset himself. This was a first date, and Karkat was aiming to impress. “You come here often?”

“Isn’t that my line?” Dave joked, his slender fingers carefully pushing his rolled silverware to the side.

“Do I get to ask about why the staff wants to kick you out?” Karkat said curiously. “I’m going to guess that you caused some sort of ruckus here once.”

“Just a little,” Dave admitted, holding two fingers an inch apart. “Nothing bad- I just ate myself sick on breadsticks.”

Karkat couldn’t help his answering smile at the ridiculous answer. “I thought you were fucking with me.”

“I wish I was,” Dave sighed dramatically. “But you’ll understand my suffering when you taste how fucking good they are. It’s straight up all hells of illegal.”

“Jesus Christ, Dave, how many did you eat?” Karkat asked, party teasing but partly curious as well. 

Dave had to pause to consider it, before he groaned and hid his face behind the menu. “Forty-six.”

Karkat snickered helplessly. He could see Dave’s shoulders shaking with restrained laughter as the server came by.

“Karkat?”

He turned quickly to see who had called his name and to his surprise saw an unexpected face framed by red glasses and dark hair. “Jane?”

Jane smiled and shifted her hands to her hips. “I see you finally decided to drop by,” she said, and Karkat suddenly remembered where he’d heard the name ‘Skians’ before. “I’ve been trying to invite you over for months!”

“How’s John?” Karkat asked politely, aware of Dave still laughing silently to himself as he fake-browsed the menu as Karkat mentally kicked himself for temporarily forgetting the name of the Crocker’s restaurant.

“My cousin’s doing just fine,” Jane said. “He talks about you a lot, but he’s doing okay at his new place.”

“That’s good to hear,” Karkat said, and Dave coughed to chase out the last of his laughter as he turned his smile on a distinctly unimpressed Jane. 

She shook her finger at him. “I’ve got me eye on you,” she said. “I’ll be dealing with none of your bullshit tonight, Dave.”

“Aw,” Dave complained. “What did I do wrong this time?”

“Let’s see,” Jane made a show of pulling out her notepad. “What would you like to order?”

“Could I get the unlimited breadstick basket as a starter?” Dave answered shamelessly. 

“This is exactly what you do wrong,” Jane answered, pointedly writing something down with more force than necessary. “I’m cutting you off at three baskets tonight- no exceptions!”

“That’s probably fair,” Dave admitted, turning back to Karkat, who was still watching them interact with an incredulous look. 

Karkat rolled his eyes and decided to let it go- for now. He ordered something sane and hopefully not that large as Dave opted for the everything-pasta. Karkat was beginning to find the pattern here as Jane brought out the first basket of admittedly delectable-looking breadsticks. Dave inhaled one in the first three seconds and Jane smacked his hand away.

“Does he do this a lot?” Karkat asked her as his date zeroed in on the bread.

“Maybe once a month,” Jane shrugged. “He’ll eat us out of house and home if we’d let him, but _papá_ loves him so he’s forgiven.”

“Everyone loves me,” Dave said, obviously wiggling his eyebrows beneath his shades as Jane smacked at him again.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, braggart!” She admonished him. “Sheesh, Dave, and on a date too! Who taught you table manners? Gremlins?”

“Close,” Dave shrugged and reached for another breadstick as she sighed as walked away. 

“Okay,” Karkat said as he watched Dave eat his 5th breadstick in three minutes. “I thought you were exaggerating about eating 46 of these but now I’m just afraid.”

“You’ve got to try one,” Dave said, leaning back and relinquishing his hold on the appetizers. “They’re amazing.”

The bread was amazing, but if Jane had a hand in it then of course they were. Dave kept up an endless stream of chatter while they waited for their food to arrive and in between some joke about music and horses Karkat abruptly realized he was enjoying himself. Like, a lot. 

And this feeling of certainty just kept growing stronger as the date went on. Karkat had experienced both good first dates and bad first dates, but this was in a new category altogether. This was cheesy rom-com levels of perfection, and Dave’s smile was infectious. Karkat couldn’t remember smiling this much on any date ever- not even when he and Terezi had been together. 

Normally the memory of Terezi and how that relationship had crashed and burned would have soured the rest of the night, but now it was nothing but an afterthought. For once it wasn’t a Big Deal, not with Dave right in front of him.

Jane brought out the food and somehow things just kept getting better. Dave talked about working the city’s night scene and Karkat complained about his professors and the food was delicious and enticing and left smoky curls of spice in his mouth. They talked about life and the news and how the new overpass construction on the I-14 made traffic impossible- meaningless small talk that should have bored Karkat out of his mind but didn’t. The mention of news brought up a lot of fresh feelings and he couldn’t help but bring up Porrim. 

“Porrim?” Dave said, “Like the Maryam who was just elected? She’s your sister?”

“Yeah, she’s my older sister,” Karkat answered, and Dave’s head tilted a bit to the side because Karkat’s dark olive skin was clearly not vampiric and his dad was famously human. “They’re adopted,” Karkat explained. “I’ve got a blood older brother as well, Kankri, plus Kanaya and Porrim. Then there’s my Dad.”

“That sounds like a crowded house,” Dave said, somehow still steadily making his way through what must have been two pounds of pasta. “I bet that was fun growing up with a famous civil leader.”

“It was,” Karkat started, “interesting at times, but everything worked out in the end. Kanaya was too young to remember anything else. As far as we’re concerned we’re always been family.” It wasn’t what Dave had asked about and it was probably too much deep personal information for a first date, but Karkat couldn’t help but feel defensive about his family. 

It wasn’t anything secret. Karkat’s older sister had been quite vocal during her campaigning about it and frankly Karkat didn’t blame her. Porrim had been old enough to remember the terrorist attack that wiped out her coven. Even though the perpetrators had been caught soon after, it was a huge blow to the city’s Daemon population. It was a scary thought to remember that there were still people out there that would do something so evil in the name of good. 

Karkat still remembered the night it happened. He could recall his Dad ushering him and Kankri into the waiting room in an attempt to help calm down two strange vampires that Karkat had never seen before while Karter made the arrangements with the proper authorities and talked legal talk that went right over Karkat’s head. Karkat had been all of four years old at the time and the details were fuzzy, but he remembered how small Kanaya had been, how 5-years-older Kankri had put aside his snide superiority complex in favor of cracking stupid jokes in an attempt to make Porrim laugh. Most of all, he remembered how the scent of ash had lingered in the church’s foreway for days afterward. 

“I’m glad to hear that,” Dave said softly, pulling Karkat back into the present. “She sounds like a great sister.”

“She is,” Karkat answered, endlessly loyal to his family. “You’ll probably get to meet her soon, if we keep going on dates.”

“Does this mean we’re dating?” Dave asked teasingly, and Karkat blushed. He tried to stop it, but he felt the heat creep up his neck to flood his cheeks in a wave.

“Maybe,” Karkat admitted defensively. He was saved from further embarrassment by Jane bringing the check, which after some fierce back and forth negotiations they split down the middle. Somehow Dave finished off what must have been his 25th breadstick without falling into a carb coma. Karkat wasn’t sure how many Dave had actually eaten-he’d lost count after 10. It was either an impressive or horrifying talent. Karkat wasn’t sure which. 

“I think this means we can be dating,” Karkat said, and he meant it. “If that’s okay with you?”

Dave leaned in like he was sharing a secret. “That’s more than okay with me.”

This close, Karkat could make out the faintest shadow of eyes hiding under the black glass lenses that covered Dave’s eyes. His heart was pounding and Karkat wanted nothing more than to lean in across the rest of the scarce inches separating them and kiss him, to taste how soft Dave’s lips would be. 

He smiled instead, embarrassingly shy. Dave’s answering smile was every bit as magnetic it had been from across the dancefloor. This close and with nothing else between them it was like staring at every good dream Karkat had ever had. He should have been leaning away, not closer like a moth drawn to a flame. It was irresistible. 

The sudden realization hit him like ice- Karkat knew what this was. A dozen little things he’d noticed and heard rumors about clicked into place in his mind and he froze. Awareness trickled through him like ice. His giddiness evaporated and left a cold, sick feeling behind. 

The Daemon sitting across from him leaned back, his face worried. “Karkat, is everything alright?”

“I… I remembered. I have an essay due at midnight,” Karkat lied. “How late is it?”

“It’s 8 eight minutes to 9:30,” Dave automatically checked the watch buckled around his wrist without actually staring at it. “I’ve got a set that starts at eleven across town as well…”

“Oh,” Karkat said, not sure what else to say. He had too many things to think about to choose a single coherent line of thought. Fuck. 

“We should probably leave before Jane comes after me with a wooden spoon,” Dave admitted, ruffling the hair at the back of his neck with his fingers like he was nervous. 

It made Karkat uneasy. Could Dave tell? Did he know what Karkat was thinking or feeling, or was his sudden change in mood just that obvious? Karkat was an awful liar and everyone knew it because his face was intimately connected to whatever bullshit emotion he was feeling on a second-by-second basis that left nothing to the imagination. 

Karkat tried to control his expression, but his face felt oddly stiff. “We should get going then.”

“Okay,” Dave said, backing off, giving Karkat space to think and breathe and dammit dammit DAMMIT. 

“We should do this again sometime,” Dave said, and he looked slightly hurt. That was Karkat’s fault wasn’t it? He was fucking this up and he knew it but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. And everything had been going _so well._

Karkat nodded wordlessly as Dave tried to salvage the end of the date when he clearly didn’t understand what had happened as the good date shriveled up around them like a dying flower, lost to the grim finality that was the same moral stale white bread that formed the meat of shitty romcom endings- Cause of death: Parted on bad terms. 

Dave looked like he wanted to say something, but he swallowed the words and kept quiet as the unspoken thing burned between them.

Maybe Karkat was nothing but a fucking coward because he didn’t say anything ether.

“Yeah,” Dave said, and it felt forced. “I’ve got to go, but I’ll talk to you soon?”

It ended in a question, thrown like a lifeline to a floundering Karkat. “Okay.”

The word was painful and awkward and burning. Dave left- off to prepare for his nightly job of being a disk jockey to rich scumbags who wouldn’t know taste in music unless it physically assaulted them in a back alley, and that was only so that they could remember which genres to sue for emotional damages afterwards.

God, it had only been one date and Karkat was already thinking higher of the music industry. This was madness. 

It was dark outside now and there were no stars overhead. The city was blanketed in a thick orange-tinted robe of smog.

Karkat walked back to his apartment in a daze, feeling too hot and too cold all at once. He locked the door behind him and the silent, empty apartment was all that greeted him. The silence pressed in on him with a weight behind it as he went into his room and opened his computer, because he had to know for sure. 

Karkat typed one word into the search bar and hit enter as he looked up the definition of Incubus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said slow burn and I meant it don't hate me too much I'll fix it I promise
> 
> This next chapter is going to be a dozy! I can't wait!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter five, sorry for the slight cliffhanger on the last chapter but i PROMISE IT'LL BE WORTH IT!

For the most part what Karkat found was utter shit. The internet was cluttered with descriptions of _“one soul moste corrupted”_ and other anti-Daemon rhetoric Karkat had spent his entire life fighting against. Most websites were chatrooms and church propaganda against what they called _“the sin of lust incarnate.”_

At least Karkat knew better than to believe in this bullshit tasteless drivel. He also knew exactly where to look to find the information he was looking for. It was the one thing he could thank Kankri for informing him of. 

Daemonology.org wasn’t a fun site to navigate but at least it was unbiased and factful. Karkat scrolled through the list of Daemonkind, past entries for mankind’s brother species. It took a while for him to hunt down the link for Incubi- they were all the way at the bottom of a very long list.

The link took him to a page on Incubi. He’d browsed this site before. Kanaya had laughed with him at how overly simplistic the entry for vampires had been, but even watered-down the link for vampires had been over thirty pages long. The section for Incubi was barely a page.

Incubus. (plural, Incubi)

\- One of the 72 original demons that gave birth to Daemonkind. 

_Not much is known about the Incubi. They remain one of the most secretive of the demon species and what little is known about them is often negatively warped by human perceptions. Typically regarded as a rare species, their current numbers are unknown but considered to be low in individuals. Nothing is known about their family life, early childhood, or development._

That was probably a bad sign, but it was like watching a trainwreck. Karkat knew the ending wouldn’t be good but he couldn’t bring himself to look away as he read on. 

_Like all Daemonkind, Incubi rely on humans for sustenance. In the interest of avoiding speculation caution must be taken when considering what exactly it is that Incubi feed off of. Drawing from numerous wells throughout history and in considering more recent exploits, it is safest to assume that Incubi are tied to lust and from this draw their strength._

_Unlike other demons, it is assumed that Incubi possess no mental or physic abilities apart from the innate ability to lure in potential partners with an irresistible compulsion that is hard to ignore. The specific strengths, weaknesses, and overall level of this ability remain untested and unconfirmed._

_If you are an Incubus and would like to help expand this site’s information or correct a mistake, our staff would be delighted to hear from you. Please click here to contact our staff!_

It was nothing that Karkat hadn't already known or guessed and it sure as hell didn’t give him anything new. Dammit, he wanted to know what they looked like! It wasn’t a hard question. 

Growing frustrated, Karkat switched back to google and hit the option for images instead. He was instantly assaulted with historical depictions of supposed Incubi emerging from hellfire, naked and ready to prey on young virgins. Karkat rolled his eyes at the sight. 

Like the subtle glow of vampires and the claws of infrit, all demons had something that set them apart from humans. All Karkat had to do was successfully navigate his way to the answer through exactly 118,765,666 different results to find it, as the google search bar was so helpful to inform him of. 

This was going to take all night. Karkat groaned and was saved from banging his head into the nearest flat surface when a familiar picture caught his eye. 

It wasn’t the white hair that alerted him-it was the dark, impossible-to-see-through sunglasses that the man wore. Karkat followed the picture back to its source and nearly beat his head against his desk anyway because duh- _he already knew this man._ Everyone did. 

Famous director “D” Strider, one of the world’s four publicly outed Incubi. Karkat enlarged the picture to study the guy, just to see if he shared any similarities with Dave. They had the same pure white hair, though D wore his cut short. An ever-present pair of custom aviators shielded his eyes from the world. Shit, when really looking at this guy he even looked a little like Dave in the face. And there was something else, something intangible and enigmatic that had instantly drawn Karkat’s gaze to this image out of a page of hundreds with the identical feeling that came from picking Dave’s face out of the crowd of dancers at the club. 

Karkat closed off his computer and rubbed at his eyes, feeling guilty and then immediately hating himself for it. Here he was like some sort of freak googling things on the internet after unceremoniously ruining the only good date he’d had in over a year because he was a repugnant fool who couldn’t separate out his own emotions from the cloud of needy desperation that had choked out all other relationships he’d pursued. 

So what? It wasn’t even like he cared, for fuck’s sake. Demons were cool with him. Karkat had grown up around a mixed crowd of demons, humans, and psychics and he was proud to say that he was really, truly unbothered by whatever Dave might have been.

Karkat sat back in his chair and considered the facts, because he was a rational human being in possession of more than two brain cells even if he didn’t always act like it.

Hair and weird shades aside, what proof did he have that Dave was anything other than human? A rumor Sollux had heard? The ability to eat 10,000 carbs at one sitting and then walk away under his own power?

Karkat could hold back the helpless laugh that escaped him in a harsh bark of sound. This was beyond ridiculous. He stared at his phone and bit his lip, looking at the time displayed in his computer. It was a little after midnight. Dave had mentioned his set started at 11, was it even worth bothering him while he was working?

Karkat’s fingers found his keyboard as he battled back his common sense.

carcinoGeneticist (CG) began Pestering turntechGodhead (TG) at 12:16am!

CG: DAVE? I KNOW YOU SAID EARLIER THAT YOU WERE WORKING TONIGHT AND THAT’S OKAY BUT I’M SORRY I LEFT THINGS IN SUCH A MESS. I DON’T WANT TO LEAVE THINGS HOW THEY WERE WHEN WE PARTED.  
CG: IT WAS MY FAULT AND I’M SORRY.  
CG: ANYWAY, IT’S AFTER MIDNIGHT AND I’M DONE WITH MY ASSIGNMENT. I KNOW YOU STAY UP LATE AND I’M NOT TIRED AT ALL AND I COULDN’T HELP BUT WONDER IF YOU WOULD BE ALRIGHT WITH A REDO OF OUR DATE.  
CG: UNLESS THAT’S WEIRD.  
CG: I MIGHT BE BEING WEIRD SO IF I AM PLEASE TELL ME TO FUCK OFF.  
CG: HELLO?  
CG: I GUESS YOU’RE STILL ONSTAGE?  
CG: OK. THAT’S FINE. I’M SORRY I BOTHERED YOU. JUST, TEXT ME OR SOMETHING WHEN YOU GET THIS.

Karkat nearly threw his phone away from him as he ended what was certainly the single worst text conversation he’d ever fucking sent. The awkwardness was strong enough to burn him through the screen as he ranted in Dave’s general direction without any response. 

It was mortifying. He’d only gotten four sentences in before he’d apologized. Not that he shouldn’t have done that, it was his fault the date had ended badly but COME ON.

Karkat grabbed a pillow and buried his face into it, his cheeks burning as he contemplated the exact amount of embarrassment he’d just put himself through. If he could go back in time and stop himself from sending those texts he would. Past Karkat was a moron! Past Karkat couldn’t be trusted to do anything that wouldn’t tally up to his own brand of overemotional bullshit!

From his bed, his phone let out the soft ding of a received pester and Karkat abandoned all pretenses of cool to fling himself at the device. He snatched his phone up and saw that Dave had replied. 

TG: a redo?  
TG: fuck yes man please that would be amazing  
TG: ok i dont have long until this stupid pop song ends but ill be here until three  
TG: im currently texting you from under the sound boards and hoping that no one calls me out because that would be difficult to explain  
TG: yeah no boss im totally not texting my bf instead of working what do you mean slacking  
TG: listen here ill have you know that ive never slacked a day in my life im always giving 110%  
TG: oh shit wait i see him looking at me g2g  
TG: im working the dersite club down broadstreet and i can meet you after if thats okay  
TG: crap hes coming closer abort abort shitfuck  
TG: bye karkat

Karkat snorted and stared at the red text coloring his screen with his bottom lip between his teeth. 

He reread the second line, his eyes lingering on the word _please_ and the funny little sparks it sent through his stomach. Dave wanted to see him. Dave wanted to try things again. 

More importantly, Dave had called Karkat his boyfriend. He’d said it so easily. The word had slipped out effortlessly in the middle of a meaningless hypothetical joke, but it was right there in red and white. 

The word sent a thrill through him. Karkat hugged the phone to his chest, pressing it over his heart until he could feel the warmth of the screen through his shirt. The feeling sparked a fire in him. 

Dave had said he’d be free at 3, but what if…

Karkat grinned a wicked smile as he quickly jumped into motion. The idea of waiting and doing nothing but stare at his phone for the next three hours was distinctly unappealing. And besides, he knew where Dave was. 

Maybe it was time to pay him a surprise visit. 

Karkat ran his fingers through his hair, purposefully tousling it into waves as he slipped out of the dress shirt Kanaya had gotten him in favor of something more club-worthy. He went with a black ensemble that had sequin beading around the sleeves and shoulders, just because he knew they would catch and reflect the light. On went his best shoes and the pants he knew hugged his ass. 

Karkat left his apartment with one plan and one plan only- to seduce the pants off Dave.  
…

 

The club Derse was different from the other club Sollux had taken him to. It was wilder, the beat thrashed at the air as strobes ripped beams of light through banks of fog that drifted down from the rafters. 

The bouncers were kind enough to let Karkat in after he slipped them a twenty to cover the door fee, and inside of the club he was assaulted by the sweet smell of smoke and sweat. Three bowls stood open on a table, their contents glowing. 

Karkat ran his fingers over the glow stick wristbands offered to him. Red was for ‘single’, blue for ‘in a relationship’, and yellow proclaimed ‘it’s complicated.’ He had a moment of doubt, of black hesitation, before he slipped a blue band over his wrist. The table worker gave him a leering, judgmental look as he sensed Karkat’s hesitation and Karkat fearlessly stared him down. The man looked away first. 

He tried to cut his way through the crowds. This club was insane. People were screaming, wild with frenzy and excitement. People kept bumping into him, ragged faces blurred in the half-light. The pulse of the music was in his heart, and Karkat followed the sound through the throng until he caught sight of Dave. 

Karkat was instantly arrested in place, his heart in his throat. Dave was looking down, his face focused and intent on the turntables as he worked the crowd to a new level of fervor. His shades were firmly in place, his long fingers dancing over the soundboards as the overhead strobes flashed. Around his wrist, buckled over the sleeve of the jacket he was wearing, was a blue glowband.

It shouldn’t have mattered so much to Karkat that Dave had chosen to wear it after only one date, but it did. It really, really did. The sight rekindled the slow fire that had been burning in his gut all night, breathing fresh air over the coals that had been lit from the very first time Karkat had laid eyes on Dave. _There he was._

Almost like Dave could feel Karkat watching him, the DJ looked up just in time to catch Karkat’s eyes. The eye contact burned through the air between them- Karkat could feel it inside him like he’d put his hand on a live wire. This was magic, it had to be, there was no other explanation. Dave smiled an open, lazy grin, his hands never faltering- right before the beat dropped. 

That mother _fucker._

The crowd roared, jumping and dancing to the beat as Karkat struggled to the front. It took him several minutes to navigate to the front row, where the dancers were packed tighter and were the most caught up in the music that poured from where Dave was onstage. 

It was slightly frustrating, but the chaos gave Karkat the time to fully absorb the sight of Dave at work. 

The music was really fucking good. Sollux had been right-Dave more than knew what he was doing. The layered, synchronic beats echoed off themselves in a percussive race to reach the end, dragging the club goers higher and higher with its infectious tempo. The music wormed its way into his heart. He could feel it pounding in his blood. 

And damn, Dave looked good. Onstage like this, he was a performer. That red jacket was new, covered in unnecessary buckles that shimmered as he moved. He was captivating and competent and frustratingly far away as Karkat drank in the sight of him. 

The song ended with a bang and an explosion of applause as Dave saluted the crowd with a sideways grin. He had them hooked- he had the entire fucking club hooked like a fish, but his gaze was only for Karkat.  
Dave gave a wave, nothing more than a subtle twitch of his fingers that had Karkat’s heart pounding. He’d been called out, beckoned closer by that secret wave meant just for him. 

Karkat could feel his heart beating; he could feel his pulse in his ears and his fingertips as he sought after Dave. He had to push his way through the crowd to get closer, and he broke free of the mob in time to see Dave vanish into the back sound room. 

Karkat stood in front of the closed door. The door said ‘ **employees only!** ’ in bold black print but he didn’t hesitate to walk inside. 

Dave was inside against the wall, sitting back on storage bins filled with surplus equipment. His head was tilted, his parted lips flushed with color. “You came to see me?”

Karkat let the door fall closed behind him. The room was instantly darker- too dark to see in. The loss of his sight only heightened how his skin prickled with awareness from where Dave was absolutely _lounging_. “You did say we could try for a redo,” Karkat said as his fingers traced along the wall to find the light switch. 

The overhead lights were spotty and only illuminated pools of the carpeted flooring from a handful of spotlights trained downward. It was still more than enough light for Karkat to make out where Dave still hadn’t moved from his chosen seat. 

The DJ looked dangerously competent in the half-light, the reds of his jacket drank in the light and the accented steel he was wearing like armor chimed when he shifted, his shoulders leaning closer. Not like, stab Karkat dangerous, more like kiss-him-against-the-wall-until-he-forgot-his-own-name kind of dangerous. 

That was exactly what Karkat was looking for as he stepped closer.

Dave looked impressed as he took Karkat’s masterfully redone look in stride. Karkat felt a surge of pride; He’d done it. It was working- he was successfully seducing the untouchable and normally unaffected Dave. He lifted his hand and with more confidence than he’d ever felt before, Karkat boldly tapped his fingertips against the blue wristband Dave wore, the matching band around his own wrist glowing indigo. He wanted to take Dave’s hand, to feel his skin move beneath his fingers. 

“What redo is this?” Dave asked, his voice low but careful. Even with his eyes covered Karkat could feel just how intently he was being watched. The DJ had to be feeling this too, the fire of instant connection that had been smoldering all night.

“The kind where I don’t run away,” Karkat replied, and he left Dave’s wristband to take his hand and lace their fingers together. 

He wanted to kiss Dave so badly that it burned. He could tell that his eyes were wide with a desire that sent a lingering flash of heat through him, but he held back. Karkat waited for Dave. He didn’t want to come on too strongly or move too fast, to push too hard in all the wrong directions and chase him away.

He didn’t need to worry. He could feel Dave’s answering grin ignite his bones as his fingers squeezed Karkat’s back. Karkat eagerly leaned in to close those few remaining inches between them and-

“Wait,” Dave gasped, sudden and rushed as he jerked his face back. 

Karkat froze, startled, exhaling a puff of warm air into the space between their faces. 

Dave drew in a sharp breath. Karkat couldn’t help but stare at his lips as the breath shuddered out of him. “There’s something you should know first, about me.”

Karkat nearly groaned with exasperation. He was _this close_ to kissing Dave- it was a special kind of torment to be so near yet so far. “It’s alright- I already know.”

“I, you… wait, what?” Dave asked, confused and completely distracted from the fact that they were still close enough that Karkat could feel the warmth radiating from him. “That doesn’t bother you?” The question was fragile, like Dave had been fully ready to accept rejection but was still clinging onto his impossible hope even if he didn’t believe in it himself.

“That you’re not human?” Karkat clarified, raising his eyebrows. He forced certainty into his voice, to let Dave know how serious he was. It still came out a little shaky. “Not a fucking bit.”

Dave just looked at him, completely speechless. 

“Not unless this is all conjecture and you’ve been pulling demon magic on me this entire time to draw me in,” Karkat said, only half-joking. “You haven’t, have you?”

Dave was already shaking his head like he was rejecting even the idea of that. “God, no,” he said. “I haven’t done anything like that, and I won’t. I swear.” 

The rapid response was reassuring and did nothing to drown out the intensity behind the promise. “Don’t think this means I don’t have eighty billion questions,” Karkat warned, resuming his pursuit of Dave’s lips. “But those can wait till later,” he said, his voice low and husky. 

Dave laughed, breathless with wonder as he grabbed Karkat’s face to gently tilt his chin up. "Well, I'm not complaining."

Karkat kissed him with the sound of his heart pounding in his ears, throwing himself headlong into the kiss. It was heady, strong, and instantly hotter than it had any right to be. Dave was seated higher than him from the storage bins and Karkat had to press himself against the full curve of Dave’s body to reach his lips. 

His eyes closed on instinct, deepening the kiss as he ran his hands through Dave’s pale hair to hold him closer. He could feel Dave smiling against his mouth and he pulled away just enough to breathe before kissing him again until he couldn’t tell the passing of time. Anything outside of the circle of Dave’s arms became irreverent, meaningless. Karkat drug his lips to the side and kissed a line down Dave’s jawline. When he reached the sweet junction of Dave’s neck and throat he could feel the shiver that ran down the DJ’s back and felt a flash of triumph.

Outside of the sound room, the distant noise of the club began to press in on their bubble of solitude. Angry, miffed voices raised together in displeasure as the music remained cut off outside.

“Dave,” Karkat said, disappointed but understanding. “I think your absence has been noted.”

“Fuck them,” Dave murmured, cupping Karkat’s face. “This club can’t afford me anyway.”

“Are you sure?” Karkat asked, more than willing to argue. This was Dave’s job after all. Making out could wait until after Dave was free of his prior obligations. “I didn’t exactly show up at your job to get you fired.”

Dave laughed softly to himself. “Why did you show up? Was it solely to ambush me?” He asked, grinning.

“Something like that,” Karkat admitted, and Dave embraced him. Karkat folded himself neatly into Dave’s body and was amazed at how well he fit between Dave’s arms. The motion highlighted the fact that he was standing squarely between Dave’s legs. He didn’t even blush as the realization sent a kick of heat south. 

“God, Karkat,” Dave sighed, his fingers tangling in Karkat’s hair. “You’re driving me crazy.”

It was a bit too much sensation for an unlocked public room, especially when Karkat was unwilling to start stripping. He reluctantly moved away, just for enough back to clear his head. “Do you have any plans for tomorrow?” Karkat asked hopefully, leaning back. 

“Nope,” Dave said with a smirk, his lips noticeably reddened from Karkat’s attention in a way that made his blood rush. “I’m free all day.”

“I’m free after one,” Karkat answered. “I’ll be at the church with my family until then.”

“Shit, Karkat,” Dave said, leaning back to kiss him again, just a soft, sweet peck. “I didn’t know that you had to be up early. It’s after two am.”

"I’ll be fine,” Karkat said. “But in the spirit of successfully dragging my ass out of bed in the morning, how about I leave you to finish your job before you actually get fired? We can hang out tomorrow.”

“That sounds like a plan,” Dave agreed, and Karkat laced his hands behind Dave’s neck and pulled him back down for one last kiss that felt like it would burn holes through his skin if he ever let go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hahahahahahahahahahaha and i'm just getting started


	6. chapter six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *throws domestic family fluff at readers by the armload*

Chapter Six!

In the morning the first thing Karkat did was check his phone. The only message he had was from Kanaya and he tried not to feel disappointed about that as he texted her back. 

grimAuxillatrix [GA] began Pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG] at 7:12am!

GA: How Did Your Date Go? This Is Of Course Assuming That You made It Back To Your Apartment Last Night, Which I’m Not Certain Of Given That You Never Answered Me Back.  
GA: You Are Alive, Correct? It Would Be Dreadfully Tiresome If You’d Died.  
GA: Also I Would Cry.  
CG: IT’S FINE KANAYA. I’M OKAY. I JUST GOT BACK REALLY LATE AND FELL ASLEEP. I’M SORRY I NEVER TEXTED YOU BACK, THAT WAS SHITTY OF ME.  
GA: That Is Reassuring. You Would Never Look Nice In A Funeral Suit, In Any Case.  
CG: I’LL SPARE YOU THE GUILT OF FAILING TO DRESS ME RED-CARPET WORTHY IN THE EVENT THAT ONE DAY MY BULLSHIT CATCHES UP TO ME WHILE I'M UNAWARE, JUST LIKE ANY GOOD BROTHER WOULD. YOU’RE FOREVER EXEMPT FROM THAT DUTY.  
CG: JUST DON’T LET KANKRI PUT ME IN SOMETHING STUPID, OK?  
GA: I Am Not Sure Now That I Think About It. The Suit Itself Is Not The Problem. The Issue Is Your Crazy Hair Would Never Lie Flat.  
CG: OH GOD DON’T YOU DARE SHAVE ME DOWN!  
CG: KANAYA I WILL HAUNT YOU, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!  
CG: I WILL HAUNT THE SHIT OUT OF YOU! IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT, THE PESSIMISTIC BULLSHIT GHOST OF AN OBNOXIOUS ASSHOLE HAUNTING YOU FOREVER?  
GA: Oh All Right, I Suppose There Must Be Some Other Way To Fix Your Hair. But I Admit It Would Stop Worrying Me So Much If You’d Promise Me Not To Leave Me Hanging Breathlessly On The Precipice Of My Own Curiosity On Any Future First Dates With Strange Men You Pick Up In Night Clubs.  
CG: OKAY IT SOUNDS EVEN SHITTIER WHEN YOU SAY IT LIKE THAT. IT WASN’T ANYTHING EVEN REMOTELY THAT SKETCHY.  
GA: Alright Then, What Is This Dave’s Last Name?  
CG: UHHHH…  
CG: YOU KNOW, THAT’S WEIRD I DON’T THINK THAT PARTICULAR FACT HAS COME UP YET. FUCK, I DON’T KNOW HIS LAST NAME. I’M SURE HE MUST HAVE MENTIONED IT AT SOME POINT, BUT DAMMIT I CAN’T REMEMBER.  
GA: My Point Exactly.  
CG: OH FOR FUCK’S SAKE I’LL REMEMBER TO TEXT YOU NEXT TIME, OKAY?  
GA: That Does Sound More Than Fair. Will You Stay For Lunch After Service? I Still Want To Hear All Of The Assuredly Juicy Details.  
CG: WHEN DO I NOT STAY FOR THE FREE FOOD?  
GA: Point Taken. I Guess I’ll See You Soon.  
CG: I’LL BE THERE IN 15 MINUTES.

Karkat set his phone down to finish getting dressed. He curiously sent Dave a text as he made his way to the bus stop outside.

carcinoGeneticist [CG] began Pestering turntechGodhead [TG]!

CG: HEY DAVE, WHAT’S YOUR LAST NAME? I THINK KANAYA WANTS TO FACEBOOK STALK YOU SO FAIR WARNING IF YOU WANT TO REMOVE ANY INCRIMMINATING PHOTOS OF YOURSELF.   
TG: uhh i dont have a facebook so no incriminating pictures there  
CG:THAT’S PROBABLY A GOOD THING, BUT I’M STILL CURIOUS ABOUT YOUR LAST NAME. IT KIND OF HIT ME THIS MORNING THAT I DON’T NOW WHAT IT IS AND I KIND OF FEEL LIKE A SHITTY BOYFREIND FOR NOT EVEN KNOWING YOUR FULL NAME.   
TG:…  
TG: youll believe me if i tell you the truth right?  
CG: UH, YES? WHY?  
TG: i dont know what my last name is  
TG: or if i even have one  
TG: i think maybe i did? once? idk it was a long time ago  
CG: WHAT?  
CG: DAVE, YOU DON'T KNOW YOUR LAST NAME?  
TG: no i don’t im sorry it’s a long story and i dont want to get into it right now  
CG: OKAY THEN… I’LL TEXT YOU AFTER SERVICE IS OVER.  
TG: yeah  
TG: that sounds good

Karkat spent the rest of the short bus ride in silence, deep in thought. A human not knowing their last name was kind of sacrilege unless it was some kind of foster care nightmare, so maybe this was a demon thing? That was possible, right? 

He couldn’t remember if any Daemon kind attached significance to names other than Fae, who treated names like a lock to their souls. Karkat doubted it was anything like the self-important power trip of Faeborn, but still.

There was something bothering him. Dave had said it was a long story- what exactly did he mean by that?

Karkat shrugged his musings off as he walked into his Dad’s church. He might not have known Dave for very long, but he did trust him. 

The very act of walking into the old structure was calming to Karkat. The familiar weight of the wooden door, its edge worn smooth by a million hands, snapped him back to reality as he entered the aispe and slipped down a side hallway to skirt around to the back of the building unseen.

Karkat ran into Kankri in their Dad’s office. His older brother was stopped over a smaller backup pulpit as he organized their Dad’s messy notes and set aside all of the notable events for the weekly announcements. He could hear the people gathering just outside of the door, a whispering chorus of voices as the choir moved into position.

“Done snooping around?” Karkat snarked, flicking the back of his brother’s sweater as he fell into an empty office chair.

Kankri rolled his eyes. “Very funny, Karkat,” he admonished, double-checking the order of the notes to ensure their clarity and stylistic flow was on par with his high expectations of perfection. “You know it’s going to be a full service this morning. We have five different anniversaries, two birthdays, a wedding announcement, details for next week’s food drive, choir practice is being rescheduled due to construction problems, and next week is our monthly baptism service.” Kankri said without looking up from the papers he was gathering. He made an odd face and his voice grew softer. “Plus there’s the official announcement about Porrim,” he said, swallowing. “And it has to be perfect for her.”

Karkat set a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I’m sure it will be,” he said. “After all, she has the best people helping her.”

Kankri grimaced. “I’ll go over it one more time, don’t you think? Then I’ll let well enough be.” His fingers were already reaching for the neatly stacked papers, never satisfied until he’d checked and rechecked another dozen times.

Karkat quickly intercepted the grasping fingers, smacking Kankri’s hand away as he stubbornly shook his head. “Nope,” he said, grinning. “None of that! Its fine, Kankri, you know it’s fine- you’ve checked it a hundred times already.”

“But-” Kankri stopped as Karkat shot him a withering glare. “Okay, you’re probably right,” he conceded, straightening his collar as he shrugged his shoulders into the suit jacket. He gave Karkat a disapproving look. “Is that what you’re wearing?”

Karkat looked down at himself and shrugged. What, it was a nice shirt, his brother was just a snob. 

Kankri sighed. “Oh, I guess it’ll work,” he said, back to fidgeting. 

“I received this on very good authority,” Karkat said, leaning in. “God doesn’t actually make decisions based on who's wearing a fancy suit or not.”

Kankri rolled his eyes again, huffing. “Don’t let Ms. Northwater hear you say that,” he warned. “She’d stake you onto a crucifix with her best pearls looped around you heathen neck.”

Karkat couldn’t help but chuckle at the image. “I don’t think Jesus would agree with that.”

“This is why you were kicked out of choir,” Kankri said, sighing like the reminder was physically painful to him as he rubbed his temples. “I think I’m getting another migraine.”

“Suck it up,” Karkat said cheerfully. “That’s what I do.”

“I don’t think I’d like you very much if you weren’t my brother,” Kankri said for the thousandth time.

“I love you too, asshole,” Karkat said, as was his typical response, and he left Kankri so that he could sneak back outside to meet with Kanaya and Porrim on their chosen pew. 

His sisters were already seated and waiting. Kanaya looked as impeccable as always and Porrim had traded in her normal church attire in favor of a sharp black suit that was a sleek as it was elegant. Karkat grinned as he slid into the pew beside Kanaya.

“Kankri’s freaking the fuck out about your announcement,” Karkat informed his older sister. “You might want to do some damage control before he gets out of hand again and passes out. Dad just replaced the carpet in his office and I don’t want it ruined from having something as horrible as Kankri’s face on it.”

The joke succeeded in erasing the tense, nervous look Porrim had been wearing. Karkat began to notice the number of people staring at them, mostly curious and proud faces, but he still bristled under the weight of so many eyes. 

“I’ll text him,” Porrim promised, pulling out her phone and sighing.

“So, Karkat,” Kanaya started innocently, batting her eyes at him. “How was your date?”

Karkat narrowed his eyes at her, but he couldn’t make the angry expression last when she looked so intrigued. Porrim laughed softly and put her arm across Kanaya’s shoulders, winking. 

“Date?” Porrim asked, sounding scandalous even though Karkat had personally told her in person about his date with Dave.

_Sisters._ Karkat rolled his eyes. “It was great,” he said shortly, refusing to allow the blush he could feel building to rise to his face. “We had dinner and then we hung out afterwards,” he said, omitting the incriminating details and dissecting out any embarrassing moments. 

“It was a Dave, wasn’t it?” Porrim mused thoughtfully. “He sounds nice.”

“He is nice,” Karkat admitted, and now he was blushing. He couldn’t help it- his face was singularly stupid like that and he blushed with ridiculous ease. It was infuriating and only served to make him blush harder.

“Will we get to meet him?” Kanaya asked.

“I’ll invite him to church next week,” Karkat said automatically, tuning out his siblings as he caught movement from behind the mahogany pulpit.

His father stepped into the room, Kankri following closely at his heels. Dad glanced instinctively towards their pew to check and make sure all of his kids were accounted for before turning his welcoming smile on the assembled congregation. 

“Before we get started,” Dr. Vantas said, chuckling. “Let’s hear it from the choir…”  
…

 

Karkat stayed late to help with the cleanup. Then, he’d head in one of the dozen backrooms for Sunday lunch with his family. But first, he had to check his phone to see who had been blowing up his messages while he’d been attending service.

He thought he’d know who it was, and Karkat was proven correct when he saw the familiar red text. 

turntechGodhead (TG) began Pestering carcinoGeneticist (CG)!

TG: hey  
TG: i guess youre in church rn thats cool  
TG: what wasnt cool was what i said earlier  
TG: you didnt deserve bearing the brunt of the stick lodged up my ass  
TG: btw im hoping to get it removed soon so heads up  
TG: but anyway  
TG: im sorry  
TG: yeah  
TG: …  
TG: ill leave you alone now

turntechGodhead [TG] has become an idle chum!

Karkat took a deep breath and finished sweeping the floor as slowly as he could get away with. 

He didn’t get it. 

That was it, that’s why there was this twisting feeling in his gut- he didn’t understand. Karkat thought that it had been some weird demon thing, but now he wasn’t sure. That wasn’t the vibe he got from the disorganized string of messages Dave had left him. 

Karkat considered responding, but he didn’t want to get into what was probably going to be a long conversation right before lunch, so he turned his phone off instead and followed his growling stomach to where several dozen church members were passing around the weekly after service potluck lunch. 

His family were crowding the corner table under a cut-out window, its stained glass patternless and colorful. The far side of the room was dominated by a single long table that was bowed under the weight of the food it held up. Every Sunday their church fed around 500 people from both the church and the community, both demons and humans, and the resulting horde was a colorful menagerie at the edge of his vision.

Karkat fell into the closest empty chair, directly beside his dad. He reached for a fork and brandished it at Kankri before his brother could open his mouth. It was clear he’d been chatting with Porrim, and Karkat warded off the interrogation before it could begin.

Sadly Kankri wasn’t persuaded by threats of bodily harm via cutlery, so the next words out of his mouth were a long stream of consciousness about Dave.

“Karkat,” Kankri ticked his tongue, sighing like the act wearied him before spreading his open hands across the tabletop like a supplicant saint. “You should have invited your boyfriend to church this morning. We have plenty of room for him at our table and quite frankly I know me and Dad would love to meet him in person.”

Karkat felt his ears burning as Dad glanced at him in surprise, his thick eyebrows raising. “Boyfriend?”

Kankri didn’t shut up; he wasn’t done yet with making his younger brother squirm. “Karkat, really. You know that our church is accepting of all races and species. Daemon kind are always welcome here no matter what they are. You shouldn’t feel ashamed of being attracted to a member of the opposite sex either. In fact, I have some pamphlets here somewhere expressing my stance on the matter clearly; I’m an ally after all, it wouldn’t do for me to be under prepared if-”

“Kankri,” Karkat said sweetly. “SHUT THE FUCK UP!” The words escaped him in a threatening rumble too loud for polite church-potluck talk, but hey, all of the regulars were well-aware of his speaking habits so why not say fuck in church? Who was going to tell him off? Definitely not Kankri, that’s for fucking sure. 

Porrim snickered as Kankri choked mid-word and shot a pleading glance to Dad, who threw back his head and let out a booming laugh. 

“No, you deserved that one, Kankri,” Dad said, still chuckling at the look on Kankri’s face. “Leave off your brother. Let’s eat. This is a time for thankfulness and being together as a family, not nagging at each other.”

Kankri scowled but obediently went back to picking at his sad plate of vegetables.

“So, Karkat,” dad started, nonchalant as he gave his son an appraising gaze. “I heard that Sollux finally moved out.”

“He did,” Karkat said, straightening up as he remembered the one thing he'd intended to ask his dad about. “Hey, the room’s empty again. Do you have anyone in your prayer lists in need of a place to stay?”

“Actually, no one comes to mind,” Karter Vantas said gladly. “For once, things are remarkably quiet.”

“Oh,” Karkat said flatly. The thought of returning to his empty apartment bugged him to no end. He _hated_ being alone.

“I’ll let you know if I find someone,” Dad said, winking. 

“Thanks,” Karkat told him, swallowing around his displeasure before something he hadn’t realized occurred to him and he whipped around to his brother. “Hey, wait a fucking minute. How did you know Dave was Daemon kind? I hadn’t even told Kanaya that.” he narrowed his eyes with suspicion, zeroing in on his brother’s uncomfortably smug face.

“It seemed obvious,” Kankri said proudly, setting his silverware down. “Given your reluctance to provide us with any details about the man, I was forced to extrapolate a few things based on certain traits of your personality coupled with the fact that you met him in one of Sollux’s clubs.”

“Oh my God, Kankri,” Karkat said in mock-horror, comically widening his eyes as he went in for the kill. “Are you telling me that you made an assumption on the race of my boyfriend based on inherently hurtful stereotypes?”

The smug look fell of his brother’s face fast enough that it must have been painful. Kankri looked like Karkat had thrown a pitcher of ice water over him. Kanaya politely didn’t say anything, allowing him to gather up the remains of his pride from the floor in peace.

“Can I just have one normal family dinner?” Dad asked, not really bothered by the turn of events. “Kanaya? How are your classes going?”

“They’re going exactly as expected,” Kanaya said, straightening up and smiling. “Which is to say, they are going very well. I’m expecting to make the top of the class again in costume and design.”

“That’s good,” Dad said, nodding. “Karkat?”

“I’m getting by,” Karkat said through gritted teeth, still vaguely pissed off at his brother even with his victory. 

“Which means?” Dad probed gently.

“All A’s,” Karkat growled, uncomfortable with any praise thrown his way. “What about it? Poetry is fucking easy- all I have to do is explain exactly why I hate it. I can say anything and get away with it as long as it’s in prose.”

“Hearing you talk about poetry is making me glad I’ve graduated,” Porrim cut in, shuddering. “I couldn’t stand my English professors. Boring old drolls, all of them.” She said, biting lightly at her lip ring as she grinned and brushed her silky hair back over her shoulder. She sighed. “I’m almost jealous of you, Karkat. I’d love a boyfriend myself. Or a girlfriend. Whichever comes first,” she said, winking as Kankri glowered at her. 

“You seem to think that I am unable to get a partner if I so wished,” Kankri said, but was luckily cut off by dad, who leapt into the verbal fray before Kankri could dig himself any deeper into the hole he was creating.

“Kankri, we all know you are more than capable,” Dad said quickly, glaring at Karkat like he was daring him to argue. 

“Thank you,” Kankri said gratefully. “I’m just very busy, that’s all.”

“And I’m very grateful for all of the wonderful help you give me,” Dad said, leaning back once the danger had passed. “What about you, Kanaya?” he asked, seeking something sane from the conversation.

Kanaya let him down beautifully. “Actually,” she said, a thoughtful expression on her face. “I think that I’m a lesbian now.”

Kankri and Dad sputtered while Porrim clapped loudly, her alabaster skin glowing faintly. “Congratulations!”

Karkat burst out laughing, instantly gleeful. “Welcome to the party,” he said, completely unsurprised as he high-fived her. 

Their dad regained his fine motor control enough to smile. “Well,” he said, still thoroughly rattled. “Thank you for sharing this, Kanaya. Please, if anyone else has any huge information to tell me, please let me know right now so if I have a stroke I can at least get it over with all at once.”

“I’m going after the entire police department for unequal persecution of demons in lesser crimes,” Porrim said helpfully. “And then the DA for allowing longer, harsher sentences for minor offences.”

“That’s the plan, Porrim,” Dad said, sighing but smiling still as he considered his four children. “Damn,” he said, faintly impressed. “I’ve got quite the bunch of young people right here in front of me. The world isn’t ready for you.”

“I will make it ready for us,” Porrim promised grimly, still grinning, but there was steel embossed in the line of her lips. “Just like you taught me.”

“We all will,” Karkat said, shrugging as he tore into his lunch. “Now shut up everyone- I’m hungry."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love families can you tell?
> 
> Anyway, there's actually some good Plot in here, like, tiny plot seeds. Now to let them grow....


	7. chapter seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter is up an entire 12 hours early woohoo!

He texted Dave again as he left church. The bus ride back to his house was swift and boring. If he closed his eyes he could name every turn on the road between his apartment building and his dad’s church.

carcinoGeneticist (CG) began Pestering turtechGodhead (TG)!

CG: HEY DAVE, I’M FREE NOW.  
CG: MY FAMILY WANTS TO MEET YOU BECAUSE THEY ARE NOSY MEDDLERS. WHY DON’T YOU COME TO CHURCH WITH ME NEXT WEEK SO YOU CAN MEET THEM?  
TG: is that your master plan to save my dammed heathen soul?  
TG: trick me into a church building so that i self immolate the instant i step over the threshold like damn karkat im not nearly that dumb  
CG: THERE’S NOT A DEMON WARD AROUND THE BUILDING, DIPSHIT. THE KIND OF WARDS THAT HURT LIKE THAT WERE OUTLAWED FIVE YEARS AGO ANYWAY.  
TG: isnt there still some kind of no demons on holy ground thing to worry about?  
CG: DO YOU NOT WANT TO MEET THEM? IS THAT IT? AM I MOVING TOO FAST? I SAID NEXT WEEK SO THAT YOU’D HAVE SOME TIME TO GET USED TO THE IDEA BUT LET ME KNOW IF I’M MOVING TOO FAST.  
TG: no its not that its  
TG: uh  
TG: actually im not sure  
TG: your family  
TG: would they be okay with me?  
TG: what if i dont want them to know about me or at least not exactly what i am i cant hide the demon thing from your dad- he will see straight through my shades hes like the biggest human demon expert  
TG: what if thats all he needs to figure things out?  
CG: YOU DON’T WANT THEM TO KNOW YOU’RE AN INCUBUS? BUT YOU’RE OKAY WITH THEM KNOWING YOU’RE A DEMON?  
CG: AND AHA! I FUCKING KNEW YOU WERE HIDING SOMETHING UNDER THOSE SHADES I KNEW IT!  
TG: its really nothing interesting  
TG: what you havnt seen eyes before or something?  
CG: DAVE I DON’T UNDERSTAND.  
CG: NOT JUST ABOUT THAT EITHER. THERE’S A FEW THINGS I WANT TO TALK ABOUT.  
TG: i kinda figured that  
TG: i did leave you some incriminating texts much to my undying uncoolness  
CG: WHY DON’T YOU COME OVER FOR DINNER? MY PLACE? WE CAN TALK THERE IN PRIVATE.  
TG: private?  
TG:*winky face*  
CG: DON’T GET ANY IDEAS I’VE STILL ONLY BEEN DATING YOU FOR A FEW DAYS.  
TG: i can still dream  
CG: ARE YOU ALWAYS LIKE THIS?  
TG: like what  
CG: OPENLY OVER-SEXUAL ABOUT ANYTHING INNOCENT THAT I HAPPEN TO SAY.  
TG: dude i cant help it youre incredible attractive like thats not even an incubus thing thats just you  
CG: OH.  
CG: WELL….  
TG: are you blushing?  
CG: SHUT UP!  
TG: omfg you are arnt you thats adorable  
CG: DAVE!  
TG: ok ok whats the address? ill leave you alone for now so you can stock up on questions because im guessing as soon as i get over there its open season on incubi  
CG: HERE’S THE LINK  


carcinoGeneticist (CG) sent link ASGDVYISKFGV232  


CG: WHAT ABOUT SEVEN? ARE YOU WORKING TONIGHT?  
TG: no seven is great ill see you then

turntechGodhead (TG) has become an idle chum!

Karkat set his phone away and unlocked the door to his empty apartment, glad that at least for tonight he wouldn’t eat dinner alone at his small table.

It was also the first time they’d said the word Incubus, albeit via text chat. Dave still hadn’t come out and admitted anything, but they were taking small steps and that was what mattered. Small ones now, then more later. 

Then the reality that he was having Dave over for dinner set in with a nauseous thump that he felt low in his gut.

HE WAS HAVING DAVE OVER FOR DINNER! 

Holy mothefuck, what was he going to serve? His impending panic attack was warded off by the knowledge that, according to Jane, Dave would put the hurting on some fucking bread.

So Karkat did the logical thing and pestered Jane while looking up neat cooking ideas on Pinterest as he judged what was within his poor cooking skill to create versus what sadly lay beyond his reach. 

carcinoGeneticist (CG) began pestering gutsyGumshoe [GG] at 2:55pm!

CG: JANE? ARE YOU THERE? WE EXCHANGED CHUMHANDLES A FEW MONTHS BACK WHEN YOUR COUSIN LIVED WITH ME.  
CG: THIS IS KARKAT.  
CG: VANTAS? LOOKING FOR MY FRIEND JANE CROCKER?  
CG: OH FUCK THIS I’LL JUST FUCKING TEXT YOU LIKE A NORMAL FUCKING PERSON.  
GG: Oh it’s alright Karkat you have the right number!  
GG: I’m Jane.  
CG: HOW CAN I BE SURE?  
GG: Well you’re definitely Karkat. No one else would be so needlessly paranoid.  
GG: I saw you just last night, at Skians, the restaurant that I’ve been trying to invite you to for the past three months?  
CG: OKAY SHIT YEAH YOU’RE JANE. SORRY FOR ACTING LIKE A RAGING DOUCHE-CANOE, AND ALSO I GUESS FOR NOT GOING TO YOUR FAMILY’S PLACE OF BUSINESS SOONER OR AT THE VERY LEAST NOT UNTIL I WAS UNKNOWINGLY TRICKED INTO THE DINNER BY A MYSTERIOUS AND EQUALLY ASSHOLISH DOUCH-CANOE.  
GG: I don’t know why I’m even asking this, but to what do I owe the pleasure of this unexpected conversation? Surely it’s not on the behalf of that same dark and mysterious stranger you dined with last night?  
CG: HAHA YEAH YOU GOT ME, OKAY? OF COURSE IT’S ABOUT DAVE.  
GG: What about him? I’m sorry to tell you that I don’t know him all that well myself. He’s very secretive. I’m afraid if its answers you’re after then you’ll not be getting any from me.  
CG: I’M STARTING TO FIGURE THAT OUT FOR MYSELF, BUT I NEED HELP WITH A DIFFERENT MATTER. I KINDA SORTA MAYBE INVITED HIM OVER TO DINNER TONIGHT AND, DISGUSTNG AS IT IS, I WANT TO LIKE IMPRESS HIM AND SHIT? BUT I HAVE ZERO PRACTICAL SKILL IN BAKING AND ALSO DON’T KNOW WHAT HE’D LIKE.  
GG: You called me out so that you could get the dinner scoop to surprise your new boyfriend?  
CG: YES.  
CG: DOES THAT MAKE ME A BAD PERSON?  
GG: Well shake my cereal! Roxy is going to love this!  
GG: Oh Karkat, I can’t believe it! I’m very flattered that you thought of me to help you with a baking problem.  
CG: SO YOU’LL HELP?  
  
GG: Okay, here’s what I know…

Three hours later Karkat set his lasagna in the oven and left it there, maddeningly cleaning his flour-coated countertop and stacking the mountain on dished he’d soiled into the sink. He was never, ever going to Jane for cooking advice ever again. Jane was incredibly passionate about cooking and apparently though handmade lasagna was the only way to go when Karkat could have picked up a frozen batch and popped it in the oven without the three hours of torment for the exact same result.

Dammit, Dave had better appreciate this! Karkat’s fingers hurt from kneading noodle-bread whatever Jane had called it. At least he’d been able to take out some of his frustrated aggression on the poor tomatoes. For the final touch he angrily slapped some butter and garlic salt on some toast and stuck it in the oven beside the slowly cooking lasagna to make some garlic bread as a side before he quit cooking forever. Karkat had nowhere near the amount of patience required for such a task when there was a faster, much easier option available at every single grocery store in the country. 

The last hour passed quickly as the rising fumes from the slowly baking meal managed to fill Karkat’s entire apartment. His nose grew used to the scent of warm tomatoes and bread within the first five minutes, but a slightly devious part of him wanted the smell to hit Dave hard as soon as he opened the door. He hadn’t been lying when he said he wanted to impress Dave.

This would be their second date in as many days, and Karkat was determined not to fuck this one up. 

He waited and obsessively checked his phone as seven o’clock grew closer and closer. Karkat’s phone never beeped. Seven came and went and Karkat told himself that Dave was just running late, it was only 7:03 that didn’t mean anything he was just being obsessive and paranoid again.

The doorbell rang.

Karkat hurriedly walked over and opened it without checking the peephole first. Dave stood smiling in Karkat’s doorjamb, wearing, of all things, an actual black tie suit. His shades were still in place and covered his mystery-colored eyes. The stark black of his suit made his pale hair shine.

Karkat instantly felt underdressed.

One side of Dave’s mouth quirked up into a small grimace. “Sorry about the outfit,” he apologized, picking at his collar as he immediately began undoing the knot in his tie with deft fingers. “I was at a job interview. I swear I don’t go black-tie for every occasion.”

“What kind of job?” Karkat asked curiously, inviting him in with a wave. 

“Nightclub stuff,” Dave shrugged and ran his hand through his hair until it was a tousled mess. “I did kinda get fired from Derse. Not because of you- I ended up cursing out the owner before I left for the night.”

“Why?” Karkat asked, shocked. 

Dave shrugged again. “He might have seen you leave the sound room and said something about it he shouldn’t have. He might have voiced some assumptions, and so I might have punched him. Maybe. It’s nothing they can prove.”

Karkat nearly hissed in a breath through his teeth. “Damn,” he sighed, imagining it. “That fucking sucks, Dave. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” the demon answered. “Shit happens, especially to people like me. DJ’s always get a bad rap. Anyway,” he made a show out of sniffing the air. “What is that delicious thing I smell and also is it edible?”

“It better be edible,” Karkat grumbled. “I slaved over the fucking thing.”

“Fantastic,” Dave answered. “Not the part about you slaving away, that’s not cool, but like I am literally starving and I’ll gladly eat anything you’ve made.”

“I’ll get it out the oven,” Karkat said, “And then you can tell me about this interview thing.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Dave said, following him into the small kitchen. 

Karkat let Dave fix his own plate and pile it high with enough food to fed three people. His suspicions of gratuitous calorie intake confirmed, Karkat nearly smirked to himself. At least he’d made enough for both of them. Dave seemed extremely pleased to locate and them steal most of the garlic bread, but Karkat saw how carefully he left the best pieces behind for Karkat to choose from. 

“So,” Dave said, sitting down and pulling up a chair to Karkat’s table like he paid rent. “Is the interrogation now or later?”

“Later,” Karkat decided. “Eat first. You look like you need it.”

“I do?” Dave said, obviously joking.

Karkat took the question seriously and studied him, really paying attention. Dave claimed he’d punched someone but his knuckles were unmarked. His tie was loosened and undone but still looped around his neck. His tousled hair begged to be touched and Karkat’s fingers itched to try and flatten it down, but under close observation Karkat could see that the crisp black suit he wore didn’t really fit him and the white shirt he wore underneath it looked faded. His sleeves swallowed his wrists, the cut too long and baggy around the shoulders. Kanaya would throw a fit if she saw this. He could imagine exactly how she’d light up the room with her indignation, her skin glowing with an inner light.

There was something else, now that Karkat was really looking at him. It wasnwasn’t the scar at his lip, or the one that brushed a silver line through his eyebrow to vanish beneath his shades. It wasn’t the thin ones that spider webbed across his fingers and cracked across his otherwise unmarked knuckles, old scars with years of healing behind them that were just starting to fade. 

It was all of these things together. Like pegs clicking into place each individual thing wasn’t remarkable, but when viewed together they formed some sum of their parts where everything was pointing to an unfavorable conclusion. The demon sitting at his table and eating his food wearing scuffed shoes two sizes too small had no idea that Karkat was dissecting him so thoroughly. 

Karkat pulled himself back into the conversation through sheer force of will. Something strange happened and kept happening every time he looked at Dave for too long. Openly studying the demon was inviting the mind-numbing fog to cloud his thinking with inappropriate thoughts of desire and he shook his head to clear it.

“Having trouble?” Dave asked, the ridge of one pale eyebrow barely visible over his shades. 

“Nope,” Karkat answered, digging into the lasagna.

He had to admit this- Jane was a fucking genius and he took back everything he’d said about her that claimed otherwise. This was hands down the _best_ lasagna he’d ever tasted. He could scarcely believe that he’d made this himself. He’d have to go back to Skians and thank Jane later.

Dave somehow still finished eating first even though he’d started with twice as much. This time the effect was lost on Karkat, who was already beginning to suspect that this was a well-established pattern. 

Karkat kept picking at his plate, not really paying attention to anything that wasn’t Dave. “So where was your interview at?”

“A club named the Felt,” Dave said, watching Karkat closely. “It’s got a bit of a reputation, but its real high-end swanky. The boss is strict but I think we’ll be alright working together.”

“How many clubs are in this fucking city?” Karkat asked, trying to count them. 

“Only nine,” Dave answered. “With the addition of the Felt and the loss of Derse, that puts me playing four of them regularly. It’s a good gig.”

“Huh,” Karkat huffed, pleased. “That sounds like a much cooler job than mine.”

“Where do you work?” Dave asked curiously, still slowly munching his way through the rest of the bread. 

“Online,” Karkat answered. “I do a lot of editing and article critiques. It’s fucking boring and nothing interesting and sometimes makes me want to beat my head into a wall, but it makes me enough to get by.”

“And you’re a student?” Dave asked. “What major?”

“English/creative writing,” Karkat answered. “I’m minoring in religious studies and current events.”

“How the fuck are current events a legit course of study?” Dave asked, tilting his head to the side. “That’s like, news right? World issues?”

“Sorta,” Karkat answered. “It’s an interesting topic.”

“So what do you want to do?” Dave asked. “You with your great college degree and double majors with double minors.”

“I have no fucking idea,” Karkat answered, snorting. He’d heard that question before. “It’s going to drive my dad crazy soon if I don’t figure out an answer before graduation.”

“It’s no big deal,” Dave said, smiling bittersweet. “You’ve got plenty of time to figure that out.”

“What about you?” Karkat asked, equally as curious about Dave. The pang of something bittersweet in Dave’s expression rubbed at him the wrong way, like Dave was thinking about something he’d rather not remember. 

Dave looked at him blankly. “I never finished school,” he said, deadpan. “College was never really an option after that.” Dave dropped his gaze to the table, looking down, not meeting Karkat’s eyes.

It wasn’t the part about not going to college that bothered him- plenty of people didn’t go that route; it was fine, but Dave said he hadn’t finished school. Like, at all?

“You never graduated high school?” Karkat asked, shocked. 

“I didn’t really… grow up… normal?” Dave tried, going for nonchalant and failing miserably. “I don’t know what to tell you. It was complicated.”

“That’s okay,” Karkat said, vehement in his response. “You’re allowed to be complicated and contradictory. People aren’t easy things to get to know.” He’d dealt with problem youth before. They washed up on the steps of his father’s church sometimes, always at night, sometimes bruised and shaken, needy for the things that were always owed to them. 

That was why he always kept his spare room ready for unexpected visitors. He never knew who might wash up next. After Eridan Karkat thought he’d seen everything, but he was still getting surprised four years later. 

Dave was looking at him strangely again, like he couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. 

It felt like Karkat was holding a handful of puzzle pieces with a mind to set them together but with nowhere to start. How did this tie into Dave not knowing his last name? What was going on with the demon? How had he gotten those thin, pale scars on his hands and face?

“Is this where the interrogation starts?” Dave asked quietly, leaning back. 

“Maybe,” Karkat said, also leaning back. “But you don’t have to answer anything you don’t want to.”

“I won’t answer anything personal about my past,” Dave said immediately, fidgeting. “It’s too soon for where we are.”

“Okay,” Karkat agreed, and then to break the tension he asked, “What’s your favorite color?”

It worked; Dave laughed. “Probably blue,” he said. “I like the sky.”

“Blue,” Karkat repeated. “That’s a good color.”

“What’s yours?”

“Red,” Karkat answered, and something very quick flashed across Dave’s face, there and gone again. He didn’t remark on it. 

“Red,” Dave said, his face completely calm in the bullshit way that Karkat was beginning to recognize for the mask it was. “It’s… nice.” He said, painfully lame.

“How old are you?” Karkat asked. He knew they had to be around the same age, but he wanted an exact number.

“Uh,” Dave said, his brow furrowing and Karkat raised his eyebrows. It was supposed to be an easy question, but Dave hesitated. “Twenty two probably? Maybe late 21, I’m not sure exactly.”

“Oh,” Karkat said, surprised. “Then I guess it’s no use to ask when your birthday is?”

“You’d be right,” Dave said, slow and with quiet assurance. “I don’t remember that either.”

“Do I get to know the reason for your mysterious amnesia?” Karkat asked. “Assuming that you know the answer?”

“I know exactly why,” Dave said, looking up again. “But yeah, no answers yet,” he said nervously. 

“Okay,” Karkat said, thinking hard. What would be safe to ask? “Is there something behind the ungodly calorie intake or are you just always that hungry?”

Dave laughed again, delighted. Karkat was figuring out how to avoid the hard questions.

“Kind of,” Dave answered. “Fast metabolism. The more carbs I eat the better.”

This was the opposite of vampires, who could get sick from eating too much human food. Karkat was used to his sisters partaking only in light snacking at meals. But then vampires drew their power from blood, not food, so maybe that made sense. 

“Is there a reason for that?” Karkat asked curiously. 

“Incubi, we tend to burn out fast without a solid and fairly consistent source of energy,” Dave sighed dramatically. “It’s the price I pay for being this awesome.”

“So I need to make sure you eat a lot,” Karkat said, narrowing his eyes at Dave’s empty plate. “It’s that or figure out the other way you feed that you’ve been dancing around for the past week.” He looked knowingly at Dave, waiting.

Dave, to his credit, didn’t blush or look embarrassed like Karkat would have as he deadpanned. “Please don’t tell me you looked on the internet.”

“I may have gotten curious,” Karkat admitted, still frowning at the demon. 

“Whatever you saw was wrong,” Dave told him immediately, defensive. 

Karkat rolled his eyes. “Duh,” he said. “I am not a fucking moron.”

“What did you do?” Dave groaned, hanging his head. “Google me?”

“God, no,” Karkat answered. “Like I said, I was just curious.”

“Are you still curious about whether or not I’m some kind of sex demon?” Dave said, and he wasn’t joking. He was serious. 

Karkat didn’t get a chance to answer before Dave continued. 

“I’m just not sure if I should tell you,” Dave said, considering him. “I don’t want you to treat me differently than you would any other boyfriend.”

“Is that what you’ve been worried about?” Karkat asked, relieved. “Jesus, Dave, I can promise there’s no chance of that.”

“Well,” Dave defended himself. “I haven’t really done the whole dating thing before, forgive me for being worried.”

“You’ve never dated anyone before? Karkat asked, shocked enough that he was sure he was staring. “But… how?” He was asking because Dave was just so… _perfect?_ Visually, at least. How could the person who could of have anyone chose no one until… him? Just plain old boring Karkat? It didn’t make sense. 

“You’re also the first person to know about the Incubus thing,” Dave said quietly. “I think that makes less than five who know, and the other four don’t count for various bullshit reasons.”

“Wow,” Karkat said, shocked and surprised and just a little bit pleased. 

“So…” Dave said, shy. “That doesn’t bother you? Me being a literal sex demon? I thought I was like, the churches’ worst nightmare? I’m a walking accumulation of everything the Bible warns good Christians against.”

“Most of the Bible is overrated,” Karkat scoffed. “Haven’t you ever read Deuteronomy? What about Leviticus? Most of everything in there is irrelevant to today.”

Dave quoted Revelations with surprising ease, his voice cool. “And behold! There came the Dark Army in their masses, carrying demons of many faces behind them. Their voices were like bright iron and their eyes like fire and blood.”

“No one knows exactly what those passages mean,” Karkat defended himself. “It could be a metaphor for something.”

“I don’t know, Karkat,” Dave said, reaching up. “That part about ‘eyes like blood’ always rang pretty clear to me.” He flipped his shades down on his nose just a smidge, only enough to flash a short glimpse of his eyes at Karkat before it was over and those dark, mirrored shades were back in place.

Karkat blinked, frozen. For a second he thought his eyes had been playing tricks on him, but the context left little doubt. “Hey,” he said, reaching forward to grab the hand that Dave had left on the tabletop. “It’s alright.”

He reached or Dave’s face, and the demon flinched back when his fingertips brushed against the sunglasses. Karkat held one of Dave’s hands, and the other one came up to stop him, to slip the shades off himself, blinking, his eyes squinted as they adjusted to the sudden change in light. 

Karkat felt himself draw in a sharp breath. Dave’s eyes were a clear, startling shade of _crimson_ exactly like fire mixed with blood. The color hit him like a punch to the gut, but then Karkat saw the rest of Dave’s bare face and nearly forgot about the eyes. 

Fine cheekbones. Eyebrows that matched the white of his hair, fine eyelashes long enough to brush his cheeks when he glanced away. 

Karkat cupped his face, wanting to hold him but the table was in the way. “There,” he said, brushing his thumb across one finely carved cheekbone. Dave closed his eyes and leaned into the light touch. “I don’t see anything wrong.”

Dave’s lip trembled, his eyes still carefully closed as he slipped his shades back on to stare at Karkat. Even with the dark glass between them Karkat could still feel the eye contact like electricity in his blood.

“Come here,” Karkat grunted fed up with the table between them as he pushed himself out of his seat and closer to Dave, who likewise mirrored him to meet in the middle. Karkat ran his hands across the slick black of Dave’s suit over his slim shoulders, his fingers aiming for the prize- That pale hair that had been tempting him all night. 

The edge of the table dug into his hip, but that didn’t matter. Dave sighed into him with suspicious relief, more than eager to kiss him and smile into the gesture when Karkat nipped at his bottom lip.

“Want to watch a movie?” Karkat asked, still smiling stupidly and unwilling to let the date end so soon. “My couch is open.”

“That sounds great,” Dave answered, kissing him again, deeper this time. 

Karkat tugged him over to his TV set, intent on finding an appropriate movie. The ideal film would be one that Karkat had seen enough that he could critique everything to the micro-level while snuggling his new boyfriend, not that Dave knew what Karkat was planning. 

He chose some B-rated flick he’d seen a dozen times that had a sappy, cliché ending. Perfect. 

Dave wasn’t really paying attention to the collection on movies as Karkat started the show and pulled a blanket over the back of the couch; he was trying to avoid being swallowed by Karkat’s faded sofa. “Holy shit, Karkat,” he said, struggling faintly to stay afloat between the cushions. “This thing is going to eat me.”

“It’s over faster if you just give in,” Karkat advised, and he hit play. Dave freed himself for long enough to flop over onto Karkat, who was more than pleased at the arrangement. They made it through the credits before Karkat started his derisive commentary, and Dave laughed gently alongside his snide remarks about camera angles and obvious tropes as the film went on, the two of them leaning together, losing trach of what happened next in between light kisses.

“I want to take things slow,” Karkat said, tracing his lips along Dave’s jaw to reach his mouth. “Is that okay?” the movie in the background was reaching the end, the protagonists gearing up for their final kiss in the rain. 

“You can do anything you want,” Dave answered, humming under Karkat’s hands. “I’ll be here for anything. Fast, slow, something in between- if you want it, I want it.”

It was obvious that Dave cold feel the warm glow that flooded Karkat at the words, more things clicking into place as his fingers tightened possessively. “I’m not going to hurt you, am I?” Karkat asked, still concerned. “I don’t want to starve you or cut you off or anything by taking things slow.”

“Hey,” Dave said, catching his chin to kiss him again like he was stroking a slow fire under Karkat’s skin. Karkat was nearly panting by the time he broke he kiss. “I’m okay with just this.”

“So,” Karkat asked, struggling to clarify. “Sloppy makeouts are okay for now? That’s … enough, for you?”

“As long as I don’t starve myself or overexert anything like an idiot,” Dave answered, kissing him again. “Karkat, I’ll be fine. I promise. I’m not going to rush you into anything.”

“Okay,” Karkat decided, secretly relieved as he hugged the demon to him. “You’re an Incubus. I’m dating an Incubus.”

“The best of all Daemon kind, in my personal opinion,” Dave said as Karkat laughed incredulously, delighted and exhilarated all at once. _Holy fuck._ Dave was warm against him, the movie nothing but white noise in the background, and Karkat didn’t ever want to leave this moment behind. If he could crawl inside of this moment forever he would die happy, surrounded by Dave and covered in the warmth between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much good progression happened in this chapter. Worldbuilding, fluff, some answers, lasagna and movies on he couch... :) 
> 
> Sorry if Jane sounds weird, I'm still learning how to write for her.
> 
> Also don't go looking for the bible quote from Dave- I made it up and it doesn't exist. 
> 
> I kinda hope this chapter left you with more questions than answers, but everything will be revealed in due time.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> new chapter is up!

Karkat had leftover lasagna for breakfast. He’d made Dave take most of the leftover food home with him; Karkat couldn’t stand more than one or two repetitions of past meals before the reheated leftovers made him sick, so he sent the demon off with enough noodlecake for a few days. 

It was funny to think of how soon it would be gone once it reached Dave’s place. 

He spent the rest of the morning watching the news, where they were showing the morning’s latest grilling of his elder sister. The onscreen Porrim smiled, fearlessly defying tradition by openly showing her slim fangs as she ruthlessly cut through her political attackers who voiced questions like ‘spending costs’ and ‘human dignity’. What assholes. 

Karkat was quick to text her as he closely watched the Mayor try to keep the order between his newest council member and the rest of the rabid human horde. 

carcinoGeneticist (CG) began pestering gladiatorsAdvocate (GA) at 10: 44am!

CG: HEY PORRIM, I’M WATCHING THE FOOTAGE FROM THIS MORNING’S BRIEFING AND HOLY SHIT YOU WERE AWESOME.  
CG: I CAN GET WHY THEY'RE SO UPSET, BUT THAT’S NO REASON BE BEHAVE LIKE A BUNCH OF FRUSTRATED APES SO CAUGHT UP IN VOICING THEIR DISPLEASURE THAT THEY ACCOMPLISH NOTHING.  
CG: I’M EMBARRASSED FOR HUMANITY AFTER WATCHING THIS SHITSHOW. GOOD JOB ON STAYING PROFESSIONAL WITHOUT GIVING AWAY ANY QUARTER.  
GA: Do you really think so? I was so uncertain if the general public would see me as a strong female candidate for change or as something akin to the instigator of a hostile demon takeover.  
GA: Oh God I’ve been typing up so many documents lately that I’m losing my quirk. Karkat, help me out.  
CG: NO! READING YOUR QUIRK IS ALMOST AS BAD AS TALKING TO SOLLUX AND I CONSIDER THIS A SHINING IMPROVEMENT TO YOUR COMMUNICATION SKILLS.  
GA: No+ need, I’ve figured it o+ut, + there’s a sense o+f releif that I get fro+m typing in such an info+rmal manner after days o+f po+litical upheaval. It brings me back to+ my ro+o+ts in feminism and frankly the no+stalgia is wo+nderful.  
CG: ALRIGHT, I’LL FORGIVE YOU FOR ALL THE UNECESSARY PLUSES BUT YOU’RE STILL ON THIN FUCKING ICE.  
GA: I can’t po+ssibly be wo+rse than Kankri, tho+ugh.  
CG: GOD, AT LEAST YOUR QUIRK MAKES SENSE. HIS IS JUST STUPID AND I HATE IT.  
GA: I think we’re getting o+ff the po+int. I’m getting stressed o+ut, Karkat. I knew this wo+uld be hard and that I’d make no+ pro+gress fo+r weeks, but this is a levelo+f idio+cy I was unprepared fo+r.  
GA: They’d hurt their o+wn agendas just to+ thwart me.  
GA: All I’m currently pushing fo+r is the restructuring o+f the weekly blo+o+d drives. I want to+ bring it into+ the public secto+r so+ that we can co+mbat the ridiculo+us price inflation+ns that have struck in the past to+ ro+cket up blo+o+d co+sts for the sheer purpo+se o+f restricting access to+ it.  
GA: But such a push is pro+ vampire no+t to+ mentio+n pro+ demo+n so o+f co+urse I’m facing backlash.  
GA: I knew this jo+b wo+uld be hard. It’s what I signed up fo+r.  
GA: I just wish things didn’t have to+ be like this.  
CG: I’M SORRY. I WISH I COULD DO MORE TO HELP. DO YOU WANT ME TO ORGANIZE ANOTHER RALLY? I CAN DRAG MY SCHOOL INTO THIS. I’M BETTING I COULD GET A FEW HUNDRED PEOPLE TO DONATE IF YOU SEND SOME MED VANS OUR WAY.  
GA: No+, because they wo+uld just see that as ano+ther attack. Let’s leave students o+ut o+f this fo+r the fo+rseeable future, tho+ugh I appreciate the gesture.  
CG: SO YOU’LL BRING IT PUBLIC, AND THEN LET FREE MARKET TACTICS REGULATE PRICES?  
GA: That is the idea.  
CG: WITH A LITTLE INCENTIVE TO DONATE, LIKE SOMETHING POSITIVE LIKE TAX BREAKS, I CAN’T SEE THAT NOT WORKING. PEOPLE ARE INHERENTLY GREEDY- THEY’LL SIGN UP JUST TO SAVE A FEW BUCKS EVEN IF THEY DON’T PERSONALLY AGREE WITH FUNDING SAFE VAMPIRE FEEDINGS.  
GA: I try to+ think so+ po+sitive. If it wo+rks, this will so+lve a majo+r issue that’s been plaguing co+vens acro+ss the state fo+r decades.  
CG: GOOD LUCK SIS. I’M ROOTING FOR YOU.  
GA: Thank yo+u.  


 

Karkat set his phone down, frowning. Fixing the glitchy, overpriced, always-late blood drives would be a huge step forward for vampires if the backlash was low enough to bear without snapping. The sister system for Infrit worked eight times as well because it was structured around the idea that funerals were expensive and dead people needed to go somewhere that wasn’t in the ground. 

Hospitals, the Infrit agenda’s biggest supporter, were actually the largest enemy of the vampire blood drives even though the two programs had an identical goal- to keep the two demon species that fed off physical human parts sated and so safe to exist around. 

Hospitals, under the new laws, got sole rights to deceased people for the rights to harvest whatever salvageable organs they could- the rest of the bodies, the refuse, the bones, the unusable bits… went to the Infrit community.

The bonus to having a boatload of available organs meant that transplant patients didn’t spend months trying to find a match. Okay, the new laws might have put a few funeral houses out of business, but the plus was that more and more people were living healthier lives even if the leftover donated human parts were eaten by demons.

The problem with the blood drives were that hospitals, while facing a surplus of human parts, were still facing a perpetual shortage of fresh blood. The blood drives weren’t enough to satisfy both the human sector and the vampire covens. On a good week, the available donated blood was barely enough. 

On bad weeks… the delays led to lines, the lines to waiting, and the waiting to vampires being sent home hungry. If the delays went on for long enough, without doubt the police would find some guy dead in an alley with his throat torn out and righteous, angry people would start pointing fingers at the covens.

Maybe one of them would do more than point fingers. Maybe he would be one of humanity’s rare magicians, maybe he would ward a circle around a coven house and soak it in gasoline. Maybe he would strike a match and then walk away, leaving two young girls orphaned and homeless for a crime that none of them had done. 

It made sense that this was the first major issue that Porrim would move on. 

Infrit and vampire rights were at the forefront of Daemonkind debates due to the fact that they were the two most common species, and because they were the two species that subsided on the physical. They derived their energy from flesh or blood- other demons existed by siphoning away what they needed intangibly through whatever hoops their particular species had to jump through. 

Like Dave and desire, or lust, or attraction or whatever the fuck he called it. Then there were Fae, Sedim, Rokai, Omni, Tricksters, Praeshemraputra, and the list went on and on to encompass all 72 of the mostly-extinct daemon species that, according to legend, spawned from when Legion was spilt into 72 different spirits and cast into a herd of swine. What King Solomon hadn’t anticipated was when the spirits, now freed from the drowned livestock, possessed humans to make the first demons, which either successfully reproduced until the current day or were killed off sometime in antiquity. Demonology was some really fucked up stuff the more Karkat learned about it. Karkat would never understand Kankri and his depressing hobbies. 

Karkat wasn’t sure he believed any of that bullshit about pigs. For one thing, demons had been recorded as living thousands of years before the Bible had been written. Archeologists had unearthed skulls with long, spiraling horns from around 20,000 years ago, complete with caches of clawed skeletons and fanged teeth that made the pig origin story sound like nothing but hogwash. Demons had always lived beside mankind- that’s just how the world worked. 

One thing was for sure- magicians were not as long-lived as tales of eyes in the night. The first known human magicians were from around 400B.C, warders who invented demon wards and protection charms and the hundreds of different ways mankind protected itself from its sister species. 

Psychics like Aradia were newer, the first few popping up around 1855, non- spell casters who could commune with the dead and move objects with their minds. Most critics said that magicians were an evolutionary defense humans developed to combat demons, and with their numbers ever growing they might have been onto something even if magicians and psychics were still considered rare. 

The entire topic was something Karkat would have to question Dave about later. Odds were that the Incubus wouldn’t know anything new, but still… something told him that Dave knew more then he let on. 

Maybe he should reach out to Eridan. That prick was majoring in demon studies, right? Maybe the Fae would know where he could get some reliable info on Incubi.

Except that Eridan wouldn’t do anything for free and asking about Incubi would surely make him curious about why Karkat was curious, and since Eridan wasn’t stupid he’d be sure to link two and two together. That was an unpleasant idea for multiple reasons, so Karkat shoved the idea out of his mind. He’d do the sane thing and just ask Dave if he had any questions. 

The Incubus was working tonight, which meant he’d be sleeping the day away in preparation for sunset like the mostly nocturnal asshole he was. After the movie last night Karkat had managed to get a few answers out of him between kisses, but he was still curious. 

It was Monday, which meant school, and classes, and professors, and his latest poetry anthology that was a nightmare to read because it was in a font designed specifically to be as unreadable as possible, possibly as a metaphor for the unintelligible distance between two separate people who could never reconcile after the trauma of their pasts, or a measure of anti-theft from an overly paranoid author convinced not that he was Jesus, but that he was the reborn incarnation of Mathew McKenneth, a man who openly claimed to be Jesus, which made the author technically Jesus twice removed. Or something. Honestly it gave Karkat a migraine to think about it for too long. 

It was only the middle of the semester and he was getting sick of these no good stupid Goddamn pretentious poetry writers and their snarky horseshit. 

At least his classes were over quickly. This was his senior block and these last three upper level English classes were all that stood between him and maybe grad school, not that he was sold on the idea of more school in exchange for a Master’s degree when his chosen future career technically required zero higher education at all. 

He meandered back to his apartment then only to find his door already unlocked and Sollux, Aradia, and John waiting to ambush him. Sollux was holding two controllers, his thin face gleeful. “Doom Escape three came out yesterday,” he told Karkat. “I’m calling a mandatory game night.”

Karkat couldn’t help but smile at that, already eager and excited. 

“Why don’t you invite Strider over?” Sollux asked curiously. “He can be your player two.”

“Hey!” John protested from the couch. “I thought I was player two?”

Aradia shushed him while Karkat answered. “I can’t- he’s working tonight.”

“Bummer,” Sollux smirked, “Do you know where he’s working?”

“Prospit again,” Karkat said, sitting next to John and taking the controller. “Hey,” he asked Sollux, struck by the sudden notion. “His name’s Dave. Why do you call him Strider?”

“That’s his DJ name,” Sollux answered, shrugging in his over-large jacket. “It’s like this persona thing. We don’t want people actually knowing us.”

“That sounds so lame,” John said, starting Karkat’s old gamestation.

“Oh my God,” Karkat said, feinting shock, staring directly at his friend. “Sollux,”

“Yeah?

Karkat shot him a serious glare. “Look me in the eyes and promise me that you don’t have some shitty DJ nickname,” he said solemnly. 

Sollux shot him the bird and smirked again, the expression fitting his face too well. Aradia snickered. 

“Tell me,” Karkat demanded. 

“Eat shit and die,” Sollux answered, the opening dreary yet suspenseful music of the opening scene beginning in the background. 

Karkat rolled his eyes as he battled John over which avatar to use. Sollux and Aradia had already teamed up without the added bonus of infighting like Karkat and John. 

“Aradia, help me out,” Karkat complained. “This is hoarding material that I have to know.”

“It’s Gemini,” Aradia answered, sing-song as she flicked the glasses of her boyfriend’s face. Sollux wheeled around at her in mortification, betrayed.

Karkat laughed and in retaliation Sollux neatly headshot him from across the map. Fucking snipers. 

“Avenge me, John,” Karkat said, disgusted at the game already as he left his dead character lying onscreen to go make everybody popcorn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: Last slow chapter to establish the world a little more and bring in John and Eridan and also because school started again and school is hard
> 
>  
> 
> ANYWAY....... I'm actualy posting an aside to this directly after this chapter is uploaded and i'll edit in the link in a sec so forgive the slow chapter pls because after this it's off to the races! I'm talking PLOT. It's happening. We're making it happen
> 
> (vague posts @poets fite me)


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY CRAP GUYS HAVE I GOT A CHAPTER FOR YOU!

Chapter nine

This time Karkat headed over to Dave’s apartment instead of Dave coming to him. Dave still met him at the bus stop in person. Karkat had complained beforehand about the vagueness of the DJ’s directions, but he brightened up when he stepped off the clanky blue city bus and spotted a pair of familiar dark shades. 

“How was your day?” Dave asked him. He was wearing an overlarge black and white hoodie and his grin was infectious. 

“It’s getting better,” Karkat said, lacing their fingers together. The line might have been cheesy, but it worked; Dave blushed as Karkat held his hand.

The air was crisper tonight, the touch of spring he’d been enjoying set back by a light cold snap that made him cuddle closer to Dave as they walked to an unfamiliar part of town. Unlike his neighborhood, here the buildings pressed tall and close on each side of the narrow street, their accordion-faces grimy and worn down. The streetlights left pools of orange light spilled across sanctuaries of pavement that Dave ignored in favor of the shadowed spaces between them. 

Karkat brushed it off as one of the subconscious quirks all demons had- he’d seen his sisters do the same odd things before even if avoiding streetlights hadn’t been one of them.

Dave expertly led him to a plain brownstone tucked away inside of the corner block, hidden from the streets outside. The thin walkway up to the door was made of uneven bricks that pulled at his feet, eager to twist his ankles. 

But the door was well-lit and the sign welcoming. The front door opened without the need for a special key and the lobby was tidy. The elevator was old but well-kept, slow as it crept up to the fifth floor at the press of a button.

“It’s not much,” Dave said, looking timid. “I’m not sure what you’re expecting.”

“I’m not expecting anything,” Karkat told him. He meant it too.

“I’ve got a good landlady,” Dave mentioned. “Infrit. She’s one of the few who’ll rent to Daemon kind without asking too many questions.”

That got him interested. “I thought no one else knew?” Karkat said. 

Dave’s chin tilted to the side as the elevator doors opened to reveal an ugly carpeted hallway interspaced with plain doors. “No one else knows what I am,” Dave said, self-assured and confident. “But there’s a few who know or at least highly suspect that I’m some kind of demon. I…” Dave trailed off, unwilling to continue or even ashamed. “I wasn’t as well put-together a few years ago. That and my glasses make everyone suspicious unless it’s a sunny day.”

Karkat swallowed thickly, wanting to question that first part, but then with a short spin Dave stopped in front of one of the doors. He pulled his keys out with a flourish. “Home sweet home,” he said, unlocking the door. Dave paused in the doorway, the curve of his shoulders bittersweet. “I just realized,” he said. “I’ve never taken anyone else home before.”

“I’m your first take-home boyfriend?” Karkat asked in shock, secretly pleased. 

“You are,” Dave confirmed.

“I’ll try to live up to the honor,” Karkat said, joking though his throat was suddenly tight. 

Dave opened the door and waved Karkat inside. He might have told Dave he’d been expecting nothing in particular, but the inside of Dave’s apartment still caught him off-guard. It was structured like every other single bedroom brownstone apartment in existence, with a faded kitchen set to the side and a small living room. The back wall was dominated by posters of bands and DJs, wires strung everywhere from a clunky set of turntables lifted on cinderblocks. 

The other wall had a shelf dedicated to jars of various dead things preserved in clear fluid. Nothing looked decayed but the unexpected glimpse of half-lidded and dead eyes was startling. A hand-painted black feathered bird perched over the doorway, leering at its similarly painted twin at the other corner as they guarded the door to Dave’s bedroom like the stone sentinel lions of old. 

“Wow,” Karkat said aloud, stunned. “It’s beautiful.” 

The cluttered room might have been disorganized by his standards but it fit so well together, all of its parts that screamed _Dave!_ swirled together to create something so utterly him that just standing in the middle of it felt like he was surrounded by the Incubus on all sides. 

“It’s messy,” Dave said, tilting his head as he studied Karkat closely. “But you really like it, don’t you?”

“I do,” Karkat promised, and Dave couldn’t hide the goofy, pleased smile that crossed his face. 

Dave wouldn’t stop staring at him- Karkat could feel the demon’s stare through the dark shades. “You’re amazing, you know that right?”

Now it was Karkat’s turn to try to hide his instinctive blush. He failed, but he enjoyed seeing the satisfied expression on Dave’s face when he caught Karkat’s expression. The unwelcome rush of blood was worth it if it made Dave’s face light up like it did. 

“So how was your day?” Dave asked, making his way over to the couch.

Karkat eagerly followed after him and sat beside Dave. “It was okay, I guess,” he said, and then he pushed it a bit further, testing the waters. “It’s better now that you’re here.”

Mission success. Dave had to turn his face away to hide his sloppy grin. God, he was such a nerd. An adorable nerd who loved music and photography and rapping his heart out to lyrics he scribbled down his arm in black Sharpie when the words come to him. Karkat pressed closer to him, seeking out the warmth that the demon gave off in waves. 

“What are you thinking about?” Dave asked, teasingly placing his arm around Karkat’s shoulders to hold him close. 

“Can you tell?” Karkat asked, turning the question around on him. “Sometimes, I’ve noticed you reacting to things that I think.”

“I’m no mind reader,” Dave answered, surprisingly careful. “But, yeah, I can feel general vibes from people if they’re thinking about anything particularly saucy.” He wagged his eyebrows at Karkat suggestively.

Karkat hid his face against Dave’s shoulder, mortifyingly embarrassed for every dirty thought he’d ever had around the Incubus. “You can tell those?”

“It’s not like I can turn it off,” Dave said. He didn’t shrug like Karkat expected him to; he held himself very still. “Sometimes I wish I could block it all out. It’s hard feeling the mood of every horny person that happens to walk by.”

“Damn,” Karkat said, lifting his head. “People are crazy and that must suck for you.”

“Walking down the street is a never-ending feast of sexually-repressed individuals,” Dave joked. “Honestly it’s kind of disturbing how often people think about sex, but then again I can’t say anything because that’s also most of what I think about.”

“But you have an excuse,” Karkat said distractedly, sorting through his thoughts. If Dave could read general emotions about sex, did that mean…

Karkat concentrated very hard on the idea of kissing Dave, who had resumed rambling about his day as Karkat half-listened. He took the semi-mandatory make outs he shared with Dave very seriously, and if this was a new way to help him then Karkat was going to test it out to the fullest degree. 

Dave continued talking. 

Karkat thought about how soft Dave’s lips were as he let himself stare at the demon’s mouth. He let his mind wander further, to fantasies of tracing his fingertips across Dave’s fine cheekbones, dipping lower to the slim muscular wings of collarbones to explore the dip they made at the base of his throat. What would the skin there taste like if Karkat pressed his lips against that sweet junction on neck and shoulder? 

Dave broke off with a low noise. “I know what you’re doing.”

“What?” Karkat asked innocently, his eyes sultry. “I’m not doing anything.”

“You’re thinking,” Dave emphasized. “Hopefully about me.”

“It’s always about you,” Karkat murmured truthfully, still caught up in the imagined drag of lips across pale skin. 

“You’re still doing it,” Dave pointed out. 

“What can I say?” Karkat sighed dramatically. “You make it so easy to dream about you.”

Dave’s head fell back, baring the smooth column of his throat. His Adam’s apple jumped as he swallowed. “You’re not going to make this easy on me, are you?” He asked. 

“Nope,” Karkat said, sliding over and into his lap to finally press kisses at Dave’s mouth, parting his lips.

Dave kissed him back with more skill than Karkat could ever manage- deep, hungry kisses that lasted forever. It was easy to lose track of how long had passed with Karkat’s focus extending onto to the sofa they shared and little else. 

The slow, buzzing drone of his ringing phone drug him regretfully back to reality. He rolled his eyes as he broke free from Dave to answer it or hang it up, depending on who was bothering him. Dave grinned and kept nuzzling his neck as Karkat reached one-handed into his pocket to fish out his cellphone.

It was Porrim screaming a long stream of jade text across his screen, nearly senseless with joy.

gladiatorsAdvocate (GA)  began Pestering  carcinoGeneticist (CG)  at 10:45pm!

GA: KARKAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
GA: We did it! The first o+f the legislation+n was just passed at a special bo+ard meeting that Dad and I o+rganized!  
GA: The blo+o+d drives are getting restructured!

It was enough to momentarily distract him as he sat upright, still straddling Dave’s hips.

“What is it?” Dave asked curiously. 

“My sister,” Karkat answered, dumbfounded that they’d managed to score a major victory so soon. “We did it.”

“Did what?” Dave asked, straightening to peek at Karkat’s phone as he tilted he screen towards him. 

Dave read the scant text, the lettering reflected in his shades before Karkat quickly replied. The demon kept his gaze fixed in the screen as Karkat typed. 

 

CG: OH MY GOD SIS.  
CG: REALLY? SO SOON? IT’S ONLY BEEN A FEW DAYS HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?  
GA: We managed to+ sco+re a vo+te of 18-15 in favo+r o+f my new legislation+n! It was so+ clo+se at the end I tho+ught…  
GA: But no+ matter that! We did it! No+ mo+re vampires go+ing ho+me hungry!  
CG: THAT’S AMAZING. HOW DID YOU WIN OVER SO MANY OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS FOR THEIR VOTES THOUGH? I THOUGHT THEY HATED YOU, NO OFFENCE.  
GA: I let them help structure so+me o+f the finer details o+f the law. I thought if they had a hand in it they’d feel mo+re incentive to+ help pass it thro+ugh the meetings.  
GA: There’s o+nly o+ne caveat they pushed thro+ugh that makes me a little uneasy, but all in all it’ll be wo+rth if fo+r this victo+ry.  
CG: WHAT’S THE CAVEAT?  
GA: I thought that mo+st o+f the pro+blems with the current system stemmed from a lack o+f o+rganizatio+n, so+ I pro+po+sed a new survey to+ better get an idea o+f ho+w many vampires are in the state so+ that we kno+w ho+w many reso+urces to+ allo+cate o+ut each week.  
GA: So+meho+w they to+o+k that idea and ran with it.  
GA: No+w there’ll be a new registration+n, which I was sure to+ include co+uld NO+T be used as a bias po+int fo+r distribution+n o+r no+t, so+ there will be no+ refusing service based o+n perso+nal histo+ry, which was the first thing I tho+ught o+f.  
GA: It wo+uld be just like the o+ther legislato+rs to+ turn this aro+und o+n us like that, but I cho+ked them o+ut.  
CG: WOW.  
CG: AND IT WAS THAT EASY?  
GA: It wasn’t easy at all! I’ve been stressing fo+r days!  
CG: YOU KNOW WHAT I FUCKING MEAN.  
GA: Well… It did co+me so+o+ner than expected, but it was still hard wo+n.  
CG: HOLD ON A SEC, I’VE GOT TO TELL DAVE.  
GA: Is THAT his name? ;)  
GA: Awww Karkles, if I’d kno+wn yo+u were with yo+ur bo+yfriend I wo+uldn’t have texted yo+u so+ quickly.  
CG: DON’T CALL ME FUCKING KARKLES THAT’S SUCH A DUMB NICKNAME!  
GA: O+k I just wanted to+ celebrate with yo+u, I’ll let yo+u go+ no+w.  
GA: Have fun with Dave!  
CG: I WILL.

Overjoyed, Karkat picked up his head to look at Dave. It was hard to read his expression with those sunglasses covering his eyes. He’d noticed that sometimes, when he snuck glances at the demon when Dave wasn’t expecting it, that his pale face was perfectly smooth and blank in a way that made Karkat’s heart drop. Then Dave would notice him staring and he’d smile and the expression would be like the sun breaking though clouds and wipe his face with glee, but until that happened Dave could have been an emotionless statue carved by a Victorian master who hated feelings. 

Dave’s face looked like that now- completely blank. It wasn’t until one side of his moth quirked up that Karkat even knew he’d read what Porrim had said. “A register.” His voice was even harder to read than his face, flat and level with no nuance behind it. 

“Yeah,” Karkat answered, relieved that Dave had answered at all. 

“She’s smart to restrict them from using the new law as a way to pick and choose,” Dave said, swallowing. “That’s the first thing I can think of them trying to pull to turn this into more bullshit than it’s worth.”

“Porrim won’t let them do anything bad,” Karkat defended. 

“That’s not what I’m worried about,” Dave answered.

“Why are you worried?” Karkat said, now worrying himself. 

“How far will this register go?” Dave asked, turning the question on him. “Will it be like a registration to pick up blood? Will they only distribute blood to registered vampires? What about the ones that choose not to get on this new registration bandwagon? Will they go hungry?”

“I don’t think that’s how it’ll work,” Karkat said cautiously, thinking it through. Dave had brought up some good points; he’d have to pester Porrim about it later. 

“What about the vampires that can’t get registered?” Dave asked. 

“That’s a stupid question,” Karkat snorted, glad that it was easy to answer. “Why wouldn’t they be allowed to register?”

Dave just looked at him. “Let’s see,” he said, his voice flat. “What generally does one need to register for something?”

“A name,” Karkat said, wincing as he realized that names were a sore subject for Dave. “Birth certificate, permanent address, plus phone or email most likely.”

“And for vampires in specific?” Dave asked. 

“Coven affiliation maybe?” Karkat said, still not sure what Dave was getting at. 

“All I know is I wouldn’t want to be a vampire on that registry, blood or not,” Dave said, and Karkat noticed something odd. His fingers were trembling. Almost like Dave could tell Karkat had noticed, he turned his hands into fists to hide their shake. 

“Dave?” Karkat asked, confused and concerned. 

“It’s a list,” Dave explained. “A master list of every vampire in the state, including covens and contact info. Jesus, Karkat, it will even have their home address on it!”

“And?” 

“And maybe that’s a fucking bad thing?” Dave said like that should have been obvious. 

“Why?” Karkat asked. “I know your name is sketchy and you probably don’t have a birth certificate, but I still don’t see why you think this registration is a bad thing.” Besides,this was for vampires, not Incubi. Karkat didn't see why Dave needed to worry about it. 

Dave bit his lip, unwilling to answer. 

“Dave?” Karkat said again, pulling back to look at him, hating how completely Dave could hide what he was thinking. 

“If I told you something,” Dave said, slow and careful. “Would you promise not to judge me for it?”

Karkat froze, his heart pounding. “I do,” he said, meaning it. 

Dave looked away, Karkat knew he did even with the shades as his chin turned. Karkat could still feel Dave watching him out of the corners of his eyes as the Incubus said without preamble, “There are people looking for me. Bad people.”

Karkat was extremely careful not to react. “Daemon kind?” He guessed. 

“No,” Dave answered, shaking his head. “Magicians- spellcasters and magic users mostly.” Then, trying to joke and lift the mood, he said, “I swear there’s no string of jilted lovers out for my head, just them.”

“Why?” Karkat asked, struggling to process the information. Dave had people after him? Bad people? 

“I’m an Incubus,” Dave said, like that explained everything. “Haven’t you ever thought about why there’s so few of us left?”

Karkat had always wondered why Incubi were so rare. He had a piece of his memory jolt out of place- D Strider, the famous movie director, also famous for surviving an assassination attempt that had been filmed live. He’d taken seven gunshots to the chest and had still walked away. Karkat was afraid. Strider had only escaped because the assassin had no idea what he was doing and had thought that normal bullets would do the job. “They hate you that badly?”

“It’s not hate, not exactly,” Dave tried to explain. “They know I’m useful to them. They want to _use_ me, for things. Powerful spells, the kind that work, illegal ones like love potions and attraction charms, the ones that make the wearer untouchable or invisible- they all run on a core taken from Incubi. That’s one of the reasons why we try to hide.”

“They’re hunting down Incubi?” Karkat asked, incredulous with belief. The explanation rang hollow to him- it was too simple. Dave was lying, or omitting something else important at the very least. “What else is there?”

Dave didn’t try to keep hiding it. “I pissed off some bad people once. They placed a hit on me.”

“Holy fucking shit, Dave,” Karkat said, sliding off of Dave’s lap to pace the floor. “There’s a hit out for you?”

“Not the kind that you’re thinking about,” Dave aid, not following him, trying to defuse the situation. 

“What the fuck did you do?” Karkat asked, trying not to place the blame, because shit yes was there a fuckload of blame that went around with mob hits, instantly on Dave. Karkat kept walking back and forth, back and forth. 

“I escaped,” Dave said, flinching like it either hurt him to admit or brought back the memory of something painful. His fingers were shaking again. “I ran away.”

Karkat froze. “You ran away?” His feet fell still as he leaned closer to Dave, who looked like he was going to run. “Dave?”

“What do you want me to say, Karkat?” Dave said, and all of him was shaking now. He took off his sunglasses to wipe at his eyes, not looking at Karkat until he’d replaced them. “Ask me how old I was.”

“What?”

“Ask me how old I was when they killed my parents and kidnapped me.”

Karkat bit at his tongue, his heart in agony. He slowly sat down on the couch beside Dave, not close enough to touch him but close enough to feel the heat pouring off of him. “Dave? What happened to you?” It was the question he’d always wanted to ask but never dared to, because something had happened, a big _**Something**_ that ruined everything so that Dave flinched at the mention of his missing name or how he’d gotten the pale scars that wormed their way along his arms and face in furrows that he still flinched away from when Karkat tried to trace them with his fingertips. 

“I was six years old,” Dave said, gasping. “There’s a lot I don’t remember- They had a Serket demon with them and they feed on memories. She strip-mined the inside of my skull for nearly a decade. I don’t remember anything specific about my parents or what happened. There’s whole months missing from my mind that I can’t get to because those answers are gone now.”

“How much do you know?”

Dave laughed helplessly. “Too much. Too fucking MUCH- I know everything important even if I can’t remember what my parents looked like. I… I had a sister once,” He said, swallowing back tears. “She was so young. I could hold her in my arms.”

“Jesus Christ, Dave,” Karkat said, equally helpless. “Why?”

“She escaped,” Dave continued, ignoring him, the story pouring out of him like water. “I made sure she got away that night- they never caught her like they did me. I hid her from them and I never told even when they beat me.”

Karkat pulled the demon against him, cradling him. The pair of crows painted on the wall watched him, one perched on a bed of thorns surrounded by blooming roses, the other on a bed of swords that cut into its feet so that it bled out rubies. Karkat held Dave closer, ignoring everything else. 

“It took me eight years to get away,” Dave said, desperate to reach the end of his story as fast as he could. “I was… fourteen, I think?”

Karkat held him tighter.

“They’re still after me,” Dave said, stuttering. “I know they are. I didn’t escape alone- I took everyone else with me, demons and humans both, everyone else they’d captured over the years. I took them all away from that place and what’s left of the ringleaders hate me for it because I broke up their child-trafficking gang.” Dave paused, considering something as it occurred to him. “Of course, they’re not in the business anymore… but I’d bet the instant they get their hands on my name or address it’s over for me.”

“Dave,” Karkat said, hugging him tightly. “You’re safe here. No one is going to get you. It’s been years.”

“Years don’t mean anything to them,” Dave said darkly. “I did the unforgivable.”

“I don’t care,” Karkat answered, not letting go. “I don’t care what you did or what you had to do to survive- Dave, I don’t fucking care. You’re here now and that’s all that matters to me.”

Dave stopped shaking long enough to look at him strangely. “You mean that, don’t you?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Karkat challenged. 

Dave shrugged. “I grew up on people lying to me,” he said simply. “Finding you, finding someone that genuinely cares about me- it’s so fucking strange sometimes that I feel like I don’t deserve it.”

“You deserve it,” Karkat said, totally resolute. He didn’t budge. “Dave, you deserve to have people care about you.”

The demon broke, falling into his one-sided embrace, tears still leaking from beneath his shades. “I’ve never told anyone else before,” he admitted. “I didn’t want them to look at me like I was broken.”

“You’re not broken,” Karkat told him firmly. “You’re not. You escaped- you’re free now.” He tried to remember what his Dad had told him about victims of child abuse, but he could only recall what hotlines to ring up after the police arrived and none of that was useful now. “What can I do to help?”

“Just don’t let go,” Dave pleaded, hugging him back, his arms wrapped around Karkat’s chest. 

They stayed like that, embraced so close together that Karkat didn’t know which legs were his until Dave slowly stopped trembling enough for Karkat to press chaste, sweet, loving touches to the demon, running his fingers through Dave’s hair and rubbing soothing circles against his tense shoulder blades. “I’m not going anywhere,” he promised. 

Karkat didn’t care- he didn’t give a single flying shit about stupid ass-backwards connotations. He cared about Dave and whatever bullshit had gone down in his past didn’t change that. So he said it again, meaning it just as much a second time, “I’m not going anywhere.”

Karkat wasn't going to let anyone take Dave from him. Ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH ok 
> 
> I'm not one to give up secrets, but just to keep things straight Bro doesn't exist in this fic. At all. I know he's the root of all my other Dave trauma fics but not this one. Like he's not even dead he just was never here to start with so that's not the answer for what's going on.
> 
> PLOT IS HAPPENING! DID YOU THINK THIS WAS A SIMPLE FLUFFY STORY?!?! MWAHAHAHA
> 
> this is the beginning of the end right here, but in a good way i swear ;)


	10. CHapter Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the new chapter! sorry it's a few days late- school is killing me

Chapter ten

This Sunday Karkat made sure to drag his boyfriend to church with him. Most churches didn’t believe that Daemon kind had souls but Karkat knew that was bullshit. He wasn’t dragging Dave along for the service, per say, but as an opportunity for the demon to meet Karkat’s family.

Even if said family included Kankri. 

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Dave asked for the thousandth time that morning.

Karkat had expected the Incubus to dislike the idea of being awake so soon, but Dave seemed fine other than a bad case of the pre-family meeting nerves. “It’ll be fine,” Karkat reassured him, taking his hand. “No one is going to know.”

“Your dad might,” Dave pointed out, still nervous. He fiddled with pale fingers at the knot of the tie Karkat had let him borrow.

“No one is going to care,” Karkat revised. “And if they do, fuck them.”

“That’s exactly what they’re afraid of,” Dave said, mock-gasping in horror. “I’ll be playing right into their devious plans. What will the little old church ladies think of me and my devious ways?”

Karkat threw a pillow at him. “Behave,” Karkat said sternly. “That was a figure of speech and you know it.”

“Fine,” Dave said, sighing. “But I will leave if I get freaked out, just so you know.”

“I’ll go with you,” Karkat offered, squeezing his hand, suddenly apprehensive. “This isn’t supposed to be painful for you. If you want to wait that’s okay. There’s no rush.” He hadn’t put much thought into how meeting his family might affect Dave personally, and now that he knew more he realized this might be a mistake. Karkat felt the loss of Dave's family like a wound he'd forgotten about until it'd reopened, the kind that never scar over but instead weep for months. He couldn't imagine what this must be like for Dave. 

“I’m okay,” Dave said as if he knew exactly what Karkat had been thinking. He raised their linked hands to his lips. “I’ll let you know if that changes, I promise.”

Damn, Dave was too good to him. Karkat made a show of deliberating. “Fine, I guess that’s alright,” he said, equally as dramatic as his boyfriend. 

“How do I look?” Dave asked, spreading his arms to showcase his outfit. 

Karkat appraised him with a keen eye. “I’ll make a choir boy out of you yet,” he joked. “You look nice,” he said, as if it were possible for Dave to look anything other than nice. “One second, your collar is loose.” He stepped closer to fix where the tie had knotted in the crisp blue button down Karkat had found for him to wear, popping the fabric out before smoothing it back down at Dave’s neck. 

Dave grinned knowingly as Karkat’s fingers lingered over the simple task. In response Karkat scowled and stepped back, clearing his throat. “We should get going,” he said. 

“I’ll follow you,” Dave offered. “I don’t know which church is his. There’s a lot of churches in this city.”

“Its got a big steeple, one blessed by a magician for good luck and prosperity,” Karkat said helpfully , trying to describe the building he thought of as his first home. “It’s old. The outside looks like a warehouse front but it’s got massive stained glass windows. The building was a storage space, long abandoned before Dad got to it.” Karkat pictured the building as he and Dave left his apartment to walk to the bus stop. He liked sharing things about the old church- the place certainly deserved it. “I lived upstairs on the third floor until I started school. There’s over a hundred rooms.”

“I think I remember hearing about it in the papers and such,” Dave answered, smirking gently. “Your dad isn’t exactly low-profile.”

Did that bother Dave? The demon liked his privacy, and these days the Vantas family name was everywhere. “I know,” Karkat said, suddenly off-put by misgivings that he couldn't seem to banish. The bus driver made no mention of Karkat’s plus-one as it took off from the curb. Karkat considered his reply before continuing, hoping that an explanation would help soothe Dave's nerves. “It didn’t use to be like that. Dad was a homeless wandering pastor one time, travelling with a demon as part of their two person circuit. I wasn’t born for any of that of course, but everyone says he changed after a cabdriver ran down his partner. She died.”

Karkat swallowed thickly. He could tell that Dave was watching him closely. 

“What was she?” Dave asked quietly, because of course that was the question about why she was killed. The world was a cruel place to live in for demons when even the religious wouldn't lift a finger to help and cabdrivers swerved onto the sidewalk after a sermon. 

“Sedim,” Karkat answered, crossing his arms. “I think it haunts him. He just wants to do what’s best for everyone- Daemon kind included.” Dad still carried her picture around in his wallet, a smiling girl with orange horns and wild dark hair done up in braids. Karkat hated the fact that he’d never gotten to meet her.

“Damn,” Dave said sadly. “My sort of best friend is Sedim. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost his crazy ass.”

“Are you saying I’m not your best friend?” Karkat teased, desperate to change the subject. 

“Nope,” Dave said, popping his lips in the ‘p’. “He’s different. Besides,” Dave said, smiling. “He’s not the one I want to kiss.” Dave raising his eyebrows meaningfully, his mouth pouting and unkissed.

“All you have to do is ask,” Karkat said, obliging him with pleasure. 

The rest of the short drive passed quickly. The tall face of the church loomed overhead, a familiar sentient to the city skyline, its cross thrust boldly at the sky like a spear shook at the heart of God, proclaiming its sheltering presence to the masses with open arms. 

It was certainly a sight to behold. Dave tipped his head up to look at it as they fell underneath the building’s long shadow. He whistled in appreciation. 

“This place is always open to those in need,” Karkat said, proud of what his dad had built here. “It serves as a church, a halfway house, a small restaurant, an even smaller Christian school, and a bookstore all in one.”

“Oh, is that all?” Dave joked.

“Nope,” Karkat said smugly. “There’s a convict retraining program and a veteran’s assistance program as well.”

“Do you walk homeless dogs?” Dave asked curiously, completely innocent.

“No, we don’t do that,” Karkat admitted, knowing what game Dave was playing.

“Bummer.” Dave smirked, “You really missed a big one with that.”

“I’ll get Dad to look into it,” Karkat replied sarcastically, shoving open the heavy wooden front door with practiced ease. “Come on, Porrim’s been dying to meet you.”  
…

 

They arrived a few minutes late, and Karkat slunk to his pew with Dave at his side as Dad Vantas started his sermon from the pulpit. 

Kanaya shot him a devilish grin as she spotted the pair of them, obviously pleased. Porrim gave Dave a gentle, welcoming smile at odds with the sharp pantsuit she wore like armor. There was something strained around her eyes that she hid behind her excitement at meeting Dave for the first time. Karkat brushed it off as stress from work, wondering if she’d speak on the subject during the service. 

Karkat sat beside Kanaya, stiff as he felt a hundred different pairs of eyes on his back from the congregation. He kept close to Dave the entire time, knowing that this must be rough for him.

Dad didn’t falter in his words, scarcely glancing at Karkat and Dave as he gave the familiar greetings. Karkat could still tell that Dad was watching him very closely out of the corners of his dark eyes as he preached.  
Kanaya kept nudging him with the point of her slim elbow, her eyebrows raised thoughtfully. Karkat rolled his eyes at her silently and proceeded to ignore her for the rest of the sermon. 

Kankri wasn’t there. Karkat wasn’t surprised; his brother sometimes stayed in the back to work while dad was preaching, it wasn’t that unusual, but he was still disappointed. Karkat had wanted Dave to meet Kankri with everyone else, where there was less chance of Kankri catching them alone and ripe for a rant. Karkat was already starting to dread the inevitable. He knew how difficult Kankri could make things.

Dad preached for his full hour, held prayer, called for a few rounds of testimonies, and then dismissed the congregation after more prayer for lunch. As soon as his dad had freed them to talk, Kanaya and Porrim were on him like carrion flies.

“Are you the elusive Dave?” Porrim asked curiously, extending her hand. “Karkat’s told us so much about you.”

“I am,” Dave answered coolly, shaking her offered hand with confidence. “Though I don’t think I’m that hard to find.”

“Just hard to meet,” Kanaya said, also greeting him kindly. “Karkat says that you work the night shift.”

“Something like that,” Dave answered, slowly relaxing as Karkat’s sisters didn’t interrogate him to within an inch of his life. The demon did seem more comfortable as they chatted as nothing bad happened. 

“Will you be joining us for lunch?” Kanaya asked. 

“Sure,” Dave said, smiling. “I’m not one to turn down free food.”

“And we have plenty of that,” Porrim said, standing. “I think Kankri is still in the back office. I might have to go and drag his nose out of whatever book he’s found.”

Karkat sighed, taking the hint. “I’ll do it, you go on ahead,” he said, knowing that this was a meeting best done in private. “I’ll see you at our table.”

“Alright,” Porrim mused thoughtfully, her brow furrowed. “We can talk more then,” she said, eyeing where a row of camera crews were lining up outside of the sanctuary. She sighed. 

“Were they waiting to ambush you?” Karkat asked, gazing with disgust at the reporters outside of the stained glass windows. 

“I believe so,” Porrim said blankly. “Kanaya, let’s go. I’ll speak to those fools after lunch. I’ll not entertain them on my personal time.”

“As you wish,” Kanaya said, frowning at the news teams as she and Porrim slipped deeper into the building to escape their view. 

Karkat paused to give a scowl to the cameras, which were thankfully not recording right now, and took a suddenly tense Dave’s hand. “Let’s go,” he said. “I don’t want to wait for those idiots to start filming.”

“Me neither,” Dave said, swallowing nervously as he followed Karkat through the backdoor and into a cluttered hallway crammed with doors and spare pulpits. A wooden cross hung on the wall, carved with runes that crawled across the wooden frame like ants, carrying bits of Scripture with them as they moved. 

“That’s neat,” Dave said, reaching out to brush his fingers across the smooth wood as they passed the cross. The words drifted closer to his fingers like they were drawn to him, layers of Proverbs and tangled Acts looping around themselves in a bid to get closer. 

“It was a gift from the Witch of the Westcoast when she visited the city a few years back,” Karkat answered, knowing exactly how it felt to have the holy phrases brush against him with wonder. “Dad has a habit of collecting religious paraphernalia that has a magical influence on it.”

“That’s a cool hobby to have,” Dave said, removing his fingers to brush them against his pants leg like they’d left a residue behind. 

“The office is this way,” Karkat said, moving past paintings and wall hangings and bookshelves filled to the brim with Bibles, so many of them he had to turn sideways to pass between the shelves.

“At least your Dad is prepared,” Dave joked, moving aside a different stack of Bibles, none of them in a language Karkat recognized. 

“Be careful what you pick up in here,” Karkat told him. “I know he lost track of some Cursed Bibles a while ago, the kind that once picked up can’t be put down until you finish reading the entire thing.”

“Yikes,” Dave said, grimacing as he returned the book to its shelf. “Who would even make that a thing that exists?”

“Fifteenth century magicians could be a bit fanatical,” Karkat answered. “The Cursed books that remain are rare enough that the few Dad has should probably belong in a museum.”

“Sweet,” Dave said. The demon looked more than interested in the idea of cursed books and Karkat was reminded of the dead things in jars Dave hoarded in his living room. 

Karkat took no time at all to find the right room; he could walk these halls blindfolded. He could find his dad’s office while asleep. “Kankri should be… in here,” He said, stopping in front of the correct door and knocking at the old wood. 

“Come in,” he heard his brother call out from inside. 

“Brace yourself,” Karkat advised, already tired of Kankri's voice. “Kankri never knows when to shut up. I’m apologizing in advance for whatever bullshit he might say.”

“I’ve met people like that before,” Dave answered, straightening his shades in a way that relayed his nervousness. “I can take it.”

“Here we go,” Karkat said, bracing himself as he opened the door. 

“If you’re here to tell me about lunch, I’ll be there,” Kankri said, seated at their dad’s grand old desk, a book in one hand and his laptop in the other. He was so engrossed in his work that he didn’t seem to realize that Karkat wasn’t alone until he glanced up, the quickly did a double-take, blinking. “Oh,” he said, sounding surprised.

“Sup,” Dave said, hovering in the doorway behind Karkat. “Nice to meet you.”

“You’re Dave,” Kankri said, the master of logical thinking that he was as he put two and two together. He closed his book, squinting at Dave as if he were trying to peer past Dave’s shades. Kankri had this look on his face as he studied Dave, like he saw something unexpected and he didn’t like what he was seeing. 

Karkat loudly cleared his throat to break the sudden tension. Kankri still hadn’t looked away- this was getting weird. 

“So,” Karkat said. “Kankri, Dave. Dave, my brother Kankri." He stared at his brother, trying to get him to break eye contact with Dave. "Will you come down for lunch, or stay locked up in here?”

Kankri ignored him, looking like he was thinking hard. He still hadn’t spoken, which was unusual for him. The longer the silence went on, the more uneasy Karkat felt and the straighter he felt Dave stand at his side, tense and wary even with his mask of charm and good grace that he could wear at the drop of a hat pulled on tightly over him like a blanket of security.

Karkat could see straight through the disguise of fake calm the demon wore. When had that happened? When had he stopped being fooled by the Incubus’s glamour that he could wear so easily? Was he just that good at knowing what Dave was really thinking? 

“You’re a demon,” Kankri said at last, ignoring Karkat completely, his eyes locked on Dave. “An Incubus, to be precise.”

Karkat felt Dave stiffen behind him, going tense. Shit. 

Dear God, Kankri was still talking like he hadn’t just eaten his entire foot in one bite. He could not have fit more of his own foot in his mouth yet the words wouldn’t stop. “Karkat, did you know you were dating an Incubus? Don’t you know how inherently _negative_ such a relationship would be? Normally I would never speak of such a base subject, but as your older brother I feel like you need to be informed of the many ramifications that arise from dating one of their kind.”

“Kankri, shut up.” Karkat said, sternly, utterly pissed off and instantly seething with rage. How dare he? How _dare_ he? Kankri was the overly pretentious prick of an asshole’s loudmouthed bastard second cousin deluded enough into thinking that he could fucking lecture Karkat about who he’d chosen to date. What the fuck?!?

He’d been expecting something bad, but nothing like this. Fuck, Kankri wasn’t even supposed to know what Dave was and he’d guessed immediately. 

Kankri, the absolute motherfucker, still hadn’t shut the fuck up. “Don’t you know how dangerous that is? Incubi are demons- they’re one of the worst of the Daemon kind. Incubi are known for their famous infidelity and I don’t want your heart broken over something that sees you as nothing more than a quick meal.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Karkat snarled, overcome with red hot anger. His hands were in fists, the tendons in his neck strained. “Kankri, you-”

“And that’s not to even mention the impropriety that having sex with one of them comes with,” Kankri said with superiority, shuddering, utterly _disgusted_ by the very idea. “Karkat, what will the church think? It’s hard enough with you being bisexual and now Kanaya is a lesbian and Karkat, you have to represent yourself better than this. You know this. Any bad behavior on your part intimately reflects upon Dad and Porrim and what they’re trying to do. Are you trying to undermine that work? Is that what you want?”

Karkat was one hundred percent fucking sure that he was about to punch his brother when Dave stopped him from shutting Kankri up with his fist.

“Stop,” Dave said, his voice sharp enough to echo in the small room. Karkat and Kankri froze at the sound. “I can leave if you have a problem with me being here. I don’t want to have you fight with your brother over me.” 

Kankri, quiet now, swallowed thickly. Karkat could see his throat squeeze through the motion. 

Dave was serious, a silent statue of pale skin so fine it could have been carved from marble. The black circles that hid his eyes looked huge on his face and they didn’t reflect the light. 

Kankri didn’t rise to the challenge, instead he bowed away, his shoulders hunching as he whined. “Karkat, please. Be reasonable.”

“You’re not talking to me,” Karkat spat at him, joining Dave to stand at his side. “And you’re not leaving, Dave. Kankri, consider yourself uninvited from lunch, as in, I’ll kick your ass in front of God and everybody if I see you there.”

“This emotional outburst is exactly why I’m right,” Kankri said, somewhat desperate to be heard. “You are only proving my point. The Incubus has you hooked.”

“His name is Dave,” Karkat growled out, turning to the door, filled with utter contempt for his elder brother. “And you’re the deluded one here, Kankri.”

Dave led the way, and Karkat made fucking sure to slam the heavy door behind him. The slap of the wood on the door frame was nearly as satisfying as punching Kankri would have been. His hands were still locked in fists as he stormed away, barley noticing that Dave had memorized the way back through the tangled hallways. The sanctuary was empty- everyone was at lunch and they had the massive chamber to themselves. 

This was going to be unpleasant. 

“Karkat,” Dave began, his face obstinately turned away.

“No,” Karkat said, every bit as stubborn as the demon. “Dave, I don’t care.”

“Karkat, please,” Dave said, looking at the floor. Dave normally took up the space he was in with his presence, but now he looked shrunken in on himself with shame. “He hates me.”

“Kankri is a stupid git,” Karkat told him. “A rat bastard who’s opinion on our relationship does not matter.”

“I don’t want your family to fight over this,” Dave said quietly, running a nervous hand through his hair. “I don’t want you to fight over me.”

“Kankri will fuck off and realize his mistake,” Karkat told him. “This happens with him; he gets so caught up in his own imagined self-righteousness that he gets obsessed with being right. He’s always so convinced of his own superiority that nothing else matters to him but it’s a lie and he’ll see that eventually.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’ll make him see it he’s wrong,” Karkat amended. “His ego is too big for him to realize such a simple fact on his own.” He stepped closer to Dave, trying to catch his face between his hands, to make the demon look at him. “Dave, I’m so fucking sorry. I had no idea he would be like that or that he’d be able to guess what you are.”

“It’s okay,” Dave said blankly, leaning out of his touch. 

Okay, that hurt. Dave had never opted out of contact like this before and the disconnect ached inside him. “No, it’s not,” Karkat said, putting his hands down even though his fingers longed to hold Dave. “It’s not okay, but it’ll get better. We can only go up from here.”

“And I haven’t even met your dad yet,” Dave said, trying for joking but falling flat. “And if Kankri knows, he’ll know.”

“You don’t have to meet him,” Karkat offered, completely serious. “We can leave now. I’ll let you sleep on my couch and I can watch movies all day with you asleep on my lap and I’ll play with your hair and bake cookies and we can forget this morning ever happened.”

Dave didn’t smile. A bit of the tension he’d been hoarding in his shoulders sloughed away though; Karkat could see the change as the demon relaxed inestimably. It didn’t look like Dave was weighted down with so much pressure on his back, the weight of a world and a worry that Karkat didn’t know the specifics of but knew enough about to want it gone forever. He wanted to take Dave’s pain and banish it. He wanted to replace each bad memory with a thousand good ones until Dave could only remember the good times. 

“Please,” Karkat asked, his throat tight. “Don’t let this ruin anything. Kankri will come around, I swear he will.”

“Were you going to hit him?” Dave asked curiously, his chin picking up a little. 

“Probably,” Karkat admitted. “He more than deserved it.”

“Maybe,” Dave said, unwilling. “But he’s still your brother.”

“He is,” Karkat explained. “One well deserved punch isn’t going to change that.”

Now Dave smiled something small and fragile, but it was still a half smile. Maybe less, but it was there. “I still want to meet him, your dad,” Dave said. “And I liked Porrim and Kanaya.”

“Dad probably won’t say anything, if that’s what you’re afraid of,” Karkat told him. “He has more tact in his fingernail that Kankri does in his whole body.”

“Okay,” Dave decided. “I’ll stay- for the food. I can’t miss out of a free home cooked lunch.” He reached out for Karkat’s hand and Karkat nearly let out a sigh of relief. The danger had passed.

“Thank you,” Karkat said, grateful. “I wish you didn’t have to go through that.”

“That’s what life can be,” Dave answered, shrugging. 

“I never wanted my own family to target you though,” Karkat apologized. “I’ll make it up to you.”

“Karkat, its fine. I’m okay. It wasn’t anything I haven’t heard before.”

“That still doesn’t make it okay,” Karkat said stubbornly. 

“Let’s just go to lunch,” Dave said, sullen. “I don’t want to fight with you either.”

“We’re not fighting,” Karkat said, then his brow crumpled with uncertainty. “Are we?”

“This is kinda fighting,” Dave told him, wincing. “Or arguing at the very least.”

Karkat blinked at him, shocked. “Shit, Dave, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize.”

“It’s okay,” Dave said sullenly. “Let’s just go.”

Karkat led the way into the dining hall, his walk sullen and seething as his heart pounded out a staccato beat. 

The dining hall was filled with people he knew, wreathed in the delicious smell of the potluck food. Their corner table was occupied by dad, Kanaya, and Porrim. Kankri was nowhere to be seen. Good. 

Karkat obstinately fixed his plate, feeling his Dad’s eyes boring suspicious holed through the back of his head the entire time as he and Dave made their plates. Then, unable to procrastinate any longer, Karkat led Dave over to the table.

Porrim was gazing at him sadly, guessing why Kankri hadn’t returned with them. Kanaya looked curious. Dad just looked tied as he rubbed at the wrinkled skin between his deep set eyes and sighed. “Karkat, where is your brother?”

“In your office,” Karkat answered, his tone more than enough to convey all he left unsaid as he set down his food and fell into the empty chair beside his father. Dave somewhat reluctantly followed suit.

“I take it this is Dave, then?” Dad asked, turning his welcoming smile on the demon.

“I am,” Dave answered, bright and charismatic again, his mask in place.

Karkat envied the ease with which Dave presented himself. Dave could hide what he was feeling- Karkat couldn’t. He just had to wear his heart on his fucking sleeve, and it was pissing him off that everyone could see how pissed off he was. It was like he was caught in some positive feedback loop of pissed off-ness. 

“Dr. Karter Vantas,” Dad introduced himself. “The head of this fine establishment and Karkat’s father. You’ve met my other son, I take it?”

“Yeah,” Karkat said, still visibly seething.

Dad grimaced, his face in his hands. “I apologize for anything that Kankri said or did. He’s been… difficult lately. I’ll have to have a talk with him.”

“A talk?” Karkat snorted, scowling. “I think we’re way beyond talks now.”

“Was it that bad?” Dad asked, concern shining in his eyes. 

“Sorta,” Dave admitted, solemn but shruggy as he waved away the accusation anyone else would have had in their voice. “But it’s nothing I haven’t dealt with before.”

This was met with silence. Kanaya and Porrim were staring. Karkat was seething. Dave was studiously ignoring the fact that Dad was watching him with worried concern. The empty chair where Kankri was missing mocked them all with its empty presence, a constant reminder of what had happened. 

“Well,” Porrim said. “I’ll have to find a way to horribly maim my brother without actually causing physical harm.” She gave Dave a kind, slightly vicious smile. “He’s not allowed to insult you, Dave. whatever it was that Kankri said, I’m sure it’s bullshit.”

“Fuck yes,” Karkat said, nudging her under the table with his foot in gratitude. Dad rolled his eyes at the foul language, his face lapsing back into fondness. 

“You’re welcome here whenever,” Dad told Dave, waving around to indicate the building as a whole, crammed with every inch of life and magic the walls could hold. “Our doors are always open to you.”

Karkat narrowed his eyes at that. Dad knew. He fucking knew, but that had been expected. Dad might not have ever seen an Incubus before, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t recognize one on sight. It didn’t help that Dave was every visible stereotype for the Daemon type- tall and white-haired, walking around with his eyes covered, magnetic to look at even when he was trying to be unseen. Dave fit the bill to a T. 

Dave dug into his food like he was starving, which made Karkat feel guilty. He should have been paying closer attention to Dave to make sure this didn’t happen. It was his job to make sure that Dave didn’t feel hungry.

That being said, the rest of the lunch went rather well. Kanaya was able to bring the talk around to her school, and Dave talked about his work, and Karkat played footsie under the table with him because he loved letting Dave know that Karkat was thinking about him, even if Dave’s expression never hinted at the under-table shenanigans. 

Dad bid them farewell once the event had ended, and Porrim and Kanaya walked them back to the bus stop. The cloud of reporters had thankfully vanished.

Kankri never showed his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> god the ending is WEAK in sorry
> 
> kankri why


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this chapter was a little late, i had a moral crisis. I gave myself one challenge while writing this fic- to not include anything nsfw.
> 
> ...
> 
> Challenge failed. The fic's rating has gone up and there's exactly one new tag added so please be aware that I have turned to SIN.
> 
> To my sis ActuallyGenericlightbulb- i blame you for everything

The next morning Karkat received an alert on his phone.

crypticGuru began Pestering carcinoGeneticist at 7: 59am!

Karkat looked from his phone to Dave’s sleeping face. The Incubus had taken to sleeping away his mornings at Karkat’s place. Dave didn’t sleep much, but from the hours of 7-12 the demon was generally dead to the world. 

Dave was on the couch, strung out and peaceful with his face upturned. His mouth looked softer when he was asleep, all of the worries he carried when awake erased. 

Karkat stood over the back of the couch, considering what to make for breakfast. Today his classes didn’t start until 10, and he wanted there to be enough food left over for Dave when he woke up. He ignored Kankri’s messages and didn’t bother opening Pesterchum to see what his brother had said. Karkat was still pissed off at him. Very pissed off. 

Karkat made himself a breakfast sandwich. He didn’t end up going crazy with the cooking, trying to keep quiet so that his boyfriend could sleep. If Dave wanted something else there was always cereal in the cabinet. 

Karkat munched on his food idly, wasting time until class. 

crypticGuru began Pestering carcinoGeneticist at 8:14am!

The alert came through in a burst of dark red. Karkat scowled at himself and set his phone face-down on the table. He wasn’t in the mood to answer his brother. 

At nine he left for class, making sure to leave the spare key on the table for Dave. 

His campus was close but not exactly within walking distance, so again he took the bus. He was an expert at taking the city bus. There was no route they could take that Karkat hadn’t already memorized. The short ride was over fast. His classes were boring today, nothing but lectures that he daydreamed through with ease as he scratched out poem scraps along the margin of his notes. He kept starting over in a huff- everything turned into shades of red in his writing. He blamed it on Dave and didn’t think too far into it. 

Karkat hoped the demon was having good dreams while he was gone. Dave sometimes had nightmares, the kind where he’d gasp himself awake, cringing out of any caring touches Karkat would try to use to help calm him down, the silent kind where Dave couldn’t breathe without shaking. He never talked about them afterwards. 

It broke Karkat’s foolish heart. Dave had been through something he couldn’t imagine, and even now it was haunting him. 

If Karkat could, he’d abolish Dave’s nightmares. He’d turn them inside-out with compassion until Dave wasn’t haunted by then anymore.

He’d given up on paying attention to this lecture. The slides would be posted online anyway. Karkat was free to listen and focus on hammering out this poem that was undeniably about Dave in a not even oblique way. 

Karkat’s pen froze halfway through a four letter word that had cropped up in the fetal poem he was scribbling. He stared at the word, squinting. He hadn’t even noticed what he’d been writing until the first two damnable letters were there in the page. 

But that was ridiculous. It had only been a month, a single fucking month. Surely that was too soon? What was the timeline for this kind of thing, from the first glimpse of Dave he’d snatched from the middle of a crowded dance floor to now? Were there any other symptoms other than writing sappy poetry instead of focusing in class? Was that why he had these butterflies in his gut?

Karkat set down his pen, staring at his page, rereading what he’d written in shock. 

_“The look of red eyes_  
_the softest hidden look, unwinds_  
_some glimmers in me I thought_  
_prayer had taken care of._  
_I never thought I’d come_  
_to this, that I would feel lo-”_

No. impossible, right? He didn’t love Dave, not yet?

Karkat cringed internally at the yet. So what? He was prepared to love Dave, that was alright wasn’t it? That wasn’t the problem. It was just so fast. 

But what was love? He thought he’d loved Terezi and look where that had gotten him. A broken heart, 18 months’ worth of heartache, and an aversion to the color teal. This emotion didn’t feel like what he’d had with Terezi. That had been a grabbing affair, something possessive and desperate, one-sided and doomed from the start. That was why Karkat had clung so hard to her, unwilling to let go because he knew if he did she wasn’t coming back. Their relationship had been a rotting apple, something infected and sick, pretty only in the outside. 

But Karkat thought that had been what love was! He hadn’t known any better. She had been his first serious relationship, the first of many things, and she’d treated him exactly the same and then sneered at him for being soft and gullible. 

Karkat didn’t blame her. He didn’t blame himself either, did he? Or did he just a little? 

He stared at the poem again, lingering over the words. He couldn’t help but smile at them. 

This felt like love, like how love was supposed to be. Gentle but fierce and all-encompassing, like a raging forest fire that kept him warm in the dark. It burned through him and left him feeling breathless.

He sent Dave a quick message, smiling like a doofus as he texted during lecture. The professor wouldn’t call him out for it- she loved his work too much for that. Karkat was safe to waste more time texting Dave.

carcinoGeneticist (CG) began Pestering turntechGodhead (TG) at 12: 33pm!

CG: I’M TOO BUSY THINKING ABOUT YOU IN THE MIDDLE OF CLASS TO FOCUS.

He knew it was probably still too early for Dave to be awake. He’d love it if the demon took the chance to sleep in for a few extra hours. When Dave didn’t immediately respond, Karkat was emboldened to keep texting him in a long, uninterrupted spiel before his fragile courage had the chance to break. 

CG: DO YOU THINK OF ME LIKE THIS? ALL THE TIME? I’M MILES AWAY FROM YOU YET I CAN’T GET THESE THOUGHTS OF YOU OUT OF MY HEAD.  
CG: NOT THAT I WANT TO, THAT IS. I LIKE THINKING OF YOU. THAT’S NOT A BAD THING, IS IT?  
CG: DEAR GOD I’M SMILING EVEN NOW AT THE PICTURE OF YOU ASLEEP ON MY COUCH. I COULD STAY IN THAT IMAGE FOREVER BUT MOVING ON BEFORE I GET OFF TOPIC-  
CG: I KNOW YOU’RE PROBABLY STILL ASLEEP AND THAT’S OKAY. I JUST WANTED TO SAY A FEW THINGS AND NOW’S AS GOOD A TIME AS ANY BECAUSE I DON’T THINK I COULD MANAGE THIS FACE TO FACE.  
CG: DAVE, DO YOU LIKE ME AS MUCH AS I LIKE YOU? BECAUSE I’VE COME TO REALIZE THAT I LIKE YOU A HELL OF A LOT MORE THAN I PROBABLY SHOULD FOR IT TO BE SO SOON INTO OUR RELATIONSHIP. BUT TO CRAM EVEN MORE OF MY FOOT INTO MY MOUTH FOR BEING A DESPERATE ASSHOLE, I’M ALSO AN INSECURE PIECE OF SHIT THAT WORRIES THAT YOU DON’T FEEL THE SAME WAY.  
CG: HOW FAST IS TOO FAST? IS THERE SUCH A THING AS TOO FAST FOR AN INCUBUS? PHYSICALLY AT LEAST?  
CG: I KNOW IT’S BEEN HARD FOR YOU TO DEAL WITH ME WANTING TO TAKE THINGS SLOW AND I FEEL LIKE AN ASSHOLE FOR MAKING YOU WAIT SO LONG, BUT HONESTLY ITS GIVEN ME A LOT OF TIME TO THINK.  
CG: ABOUT TEREZI AND HOW OUR RELATIONSHIP SELF-IMMOLATED IN A SPECTACULAR FAILURE OF MISCOMMUNICATION AND REGRET ALL BECAUSE SHE WANTED THINGS I COULDN’T GIVE HER AND I WANTED TOO MUCH FOR NOTHING IN RETURN BECAUSE I WAS A CLINGY ROTTEN LOSER OF A PERSON.  
CG: I FEEL LIKE OUR OWN RELATIONSHIP MAKES MORE SENSE. DAMMIT, I FEEL DOWNRIGHT COMFORTABLE WITH YOU. MY PAST SELF WOULD BE DISGUSTED AT THIS BUT PRESENT ME IS LIVING FOR THESE SAPPY REALIZATIONS THAT YOU’RE CONSTANTLY MAKING ME FEEL.  
CG: AND I WANT YOU TO FEEL THE SAME WAY. I DON’T WANT SOME ONE-SIDED DANCE THAT ENDS WITH SOMEONE FALLING IN HIS FACE WHILE THE CROWD LAUGHS.  
CG: SO.  
CG: DAVE, I LIKE YOU. A LOT.  
CG: A WHOLE FUCKING LOT ACTUALLY. SO MUCH THAT IT KINDA SCARES ME IN A GOOD WAY.  
CG: AND I JUST HOPE THAT YOU FEEL THE SAME WAY ABOUT ME.  
CG: I’M NOT EVEN SORRY FOR BLOWING UP YOUR PHONE OVER THIS, BECAUSE EVEN NOW I’M IMAGINING HOW YOU’LL REACT WHEN YOU WAKE UP TO READ THROUGH THIS UTTER MESS THAT I’VE SENT YOU IN A BRAZEN DASH THAT’S HIGHLIGHTING MY POOR IMPULSE CONTROL.  
CG: IN MY HEAD THIS MAKES YOU SMILE.  
CG: I HOPE THAT’S TRUE, OTHERWISE I’LL DIE OF EMBARRASSMENT.  
CG: I’LL LET YOU SLEEP NOW. I’LL SEE YOU WHEN I’M THROUGH WITH CLASS. BYE, DAVE.

Karkat set his phone face-up on his desk, his ears burning with a blush that he couldn’t help. He felt better, like a weight had been lifted from his chest with the honest outpour. He didn’t have the time to really let the good feeling sink in before the screen on his phone lit up with an incoming message.

TG: don’t worry im smiling  
TG: :)

…

 

Karkat was freed from school at 5. He raced back to his apartment and unlocked the door, eager to find Dave, only to find his apartment empty and a note taped on the fridge.

karkat, the note read. gone to buy food for dinner. will be back soon –dave

Karkat removed the note and sighed, holding it in his hands as he flopped onto the couch, pouting. There was an undercurrent that ran under his skin, sparks with no outlet. They’d been there since the messages he’d sent Dave, when an idea occurred to Karkat that he’d been lulling over for a few hours now. 

It had been a full month since he’d started dating Dave, who he liked an incredible amount that was not just due to the Incubus’s charms. He liked Dave, who was secretly dorky and creative, who liked music and songwriting and crows and photography and a billion other things that Karkat was learning to love. 

Maybe…

Maybe it was time to take things further. 

The thought was a pleasant one. It felt right, not like he was making another mistake but moving in the right direction for once in his life. Waiting any longer was just stupid and counterproductive.

The idea left Karkat with a warm glow and a sharp anticipation. He wished Dave were back. The apartment felt empty without him here.

To finish spoiling his good mood, he got the seventh message from Kankri that day.

crypticGuru began Pestering carcinoGeneticist at 5:24 pm!

CG: Come on Karkat, I know that you’ve finished your classes.  
CG: Please stop ignoring me. I want to talk.

Karkat deleted the messages without responding. Kankri immediately sent him another Pester. 

CG: I may have been mistaken about what I said yesterday. I acted foolishly and rash.

He broke his silence to shoot back a quick reply.

CG: CAN’T YOU LET ME STAY PISSED OFF AT YOU IN PEACE?  
CG: No.  
CG: Karkat, please. Hear me out. I want to apologize.  
CG: ARE YOU EVEN CAPABLE OF SUCH A THING?  
CG: Cut it out- We’re not kids anymore, Karkat. I wish we could both act like we were but the world had not afforded us that luxury. There are consequences to our actions now- The eyes of the state are on us. Can you please take this seriously?  
CG: THAT DOESN’T SOUND LIKE AN APOLOGY FOR INSULTING MY BOYFRIEND, BLOCKING IS IMMINENT.  
CG: OH NO, MY HAND, IT’S HOVERING OVER THE BLOCK BUTTON. IT’S FALLING. I CAN’T STOP MYSELF FROM BLOCKING YOU IN THREE… TWO…  
CG: Wait! Okay.  
CG: I am sorry. w9lud it help if i typed like this? 9’s and 6’s everywhere like when we were younger? Or, y9unger, i sh9uld say.  
CG: ARE YOU TRYING TO CREEP ME OUT? CONSIDER YOURSELF A FUCKING PRODIGY IN TURNING EVERYTHING BACK INTO YOUR FAVORITE SUBJECT AGAIN- YOURSELF.  
CG: That’s not what’s happening. I’m just trying to reach out to you. We used to be so close.  
CG: What happened?  
CG: WE GOT OLDER.  
CG: SHIT HAPPENED. THAT’S LIFE.  
CG: But it didn’t need to happen like this. When did we let it get this bad? Jesus, Karkat, I verbally attacked your boyfriend! In front of him! Why did I do that?  
CG: BECAUSE YOU’RE A FUCKING MORON?  
CG: Well maybe I am.  
CG: … I’M LISTENING.  
CG: I’ve let supporting Dad and Porrim’s work take over. I wasn’t thinking about anything except the project, and Dave got in the way of what I considered the ‘right path’.  
CG: It’s completely my fault for not recognizing it sooner. Incubus or not, it was not my place to speak out.  
CG: Even if you are sleeping with him.  
CG: I’M NOT SLEEPING WITH HIM, NOT YET AT LEAST.  
CG: AND NO I WON’T BE ANSWERING ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON THE SUBJECT, SO FUCK OFF THAT TOPIC RIGHT NOW. THAT’S NOT WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT.  
CG: Will you let me apologize to him? It was… irrational and hurtful, what I said to him. I know better than to believe the stereotypes about his kind and, well… it was a mistake.  
CG: There is nothing to be ashamed about in the two of you being together. I was wrong for stating otherwise.  
CG: And there’s nothing shameful in feeding a demon. You know we both would bleed for our sisters if need be.  
CG: WITHOUT EVEN HESITATING.  
CG: HOW MUCH SLEEP HAVE YOU GOTTEN PER NIGHT, ON AVERAGE IN THE PAST TWO WEEKS?  
CG: Around three hours a night.  
CG: I THOUGHT SO, STUPIDHEAD.  
CG: GET SOME FUCKING SLEEP KANKRI. I CAN’T FORGIVE YOU SO FAST, BUT I’M NOT PISSED OFF AT YOU ANYMORE.  
CG: OH WAIT, I STILL AM.  
CG: What exactly did I say to you? I remember the gist but I fear the exact words I’ve forgotten.  
CG: IT WAS SOME PRETTY FUCKING FOUL STUFF, WHICH IS WHY I’M FULLY JUSTIFIED IN BEING PISSED OFF.  
CG: I WAS GOING TO PUNCH YOU, DID YOU KNOW THAT? THANK DAVE FOR STOPPING ME.  
CG: Oh dear.  
CG: FIRST YOU INSULTED EVERY INCUBUS ON THE PLANET WITH RACIST STEREOTYPES, THEN INSINUATED THAT DAVE WOULDN’T BE FAITHFUL TO ME JUST BECAUSE OF WHAT HE IS, THEN YOU BROUGHT IN PORRIM AND KANAYA BEFORE IMMEDIATELY MENTIONING HOW AWFUL BEING IN ANY KIND OF RELATIONSHIP WITH A DEMON IS IN THE SAME EXACT SENTENCE. SHALL I GO ON? BECAUSE YOU DID SOMETHING UNFORGIVABLE AFTER THAT, LIKE BEFORE WASN’T BAD ENOUGH.  
CG: What? Let me know so that I can avoid angering you in the future.  
CG: OH THAT BETTER NOT BE THE ONLY REASON YOU WANT TO KNOW OR SO HELP ME GOD I WILL FLY OFF THE FUCKING HANDLE RIGHT THE FUCK NOW.  
CG: THE WORLD WILL THINK THE END OF DAYS HAS COME FROM THE SHEER FORCE OF MY WRATH.  
CG: No that’s not the only reason. I messed up. I don’t want to mess up again, especially to you.  
CG: YOU FUCKING BROUGHT UP MY SEXUALITY AND TOLD ME, TO MY FUCKING FACE, THAT IT WAS SOMETHING TO BE ASHAMED OF IN THE EYES OF THE CHURCH! I CAN’T EXACTLY FORGET THAT YOU SAID THE UNSPEAKABLE!  
CG: KANKRI… I…  
CG: DO YOU REALLY HAVE THAT BIG OF A STICK UP YOUR ASS ABOUT ME DATING A GUY? I THOUGHT THAT I COULD ALWAYS COUNT ON YOU TO BE AT MY BACK BUT WELL GUESS I WAS FUCKING WRONG. WHAT ABOUT KANAYA? WILL YOU GO TERRORIZE HER NEXT BECAUSE IF YOU EVER EVEN THINK ABOUT SAYING ANYTHING TO HER I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU.  
CG: Karkat you know I didn’t mean that, I would never mean that!  
CG: BUT THAT’S THE THING- YOU DID.  
CG: IN THAT MOMENT YOU DID.  
CG: AND UNTIL I KNOW THAT IT WON’T HAPPEN AGAIN I CAN’T FORGIVE YOU.  
CG: I…  
CG: I’m sorry.  
CG: I’m so sorry, Karkat, I never meant for this to happen. I take back everything I said.  
CG: I know I messed up. And I know it’ll take time for you to heal from what I did, but I’m hoping to make it up to you, both you and Dave.  
CG: I’LL TALK TO DAVE ABOUT MEETING WITH YOU LATER IF YOU WANT TO APOLOGIZE IN PERSON. I’LL GIVE YOU THAT CHANCE, BUT IT WON’T BE SOON.  
CG: TAKE THE TIME TO THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU SAID TO HIM TOO. I’M NOT THE ONLY PERSON YOU HURT AND DAVE DIDN’T DESERVE ANY OF YOUR BULLSHIT.  
CG: I understand. Thank you for giving me the chance to apologize.  
CG: Thank you. I’ll see you Sunday, Karkat.  
CG: I’LL SEE YOU THEN TOO, YOU INSUFFERABLE PRICK, BUT DON’T EXPECT ME TO BE HAPPY ABOUT IT.

carcinoGeneticist (CG) has become an idle Chum! 

Karkat set his phone down, his face set in a drawn expression. He believed Kankri, he really did, but he wondered how much of that was his brother being truly sorry and how much was their dad making sure his sons made up. Dr. Vantas was a father who hated infighting. Karkat had spent most of his childhood on the line for various child-sibling antics that dad hadn’t approved of. 

Karkat sighed. He felt tired. Talking to his brother was mentally exhausting. He turned on the news and let the background noise lull him into unawareness as his thoughts drifted inwards. He puzzled over what Kankri had said until he heard the telltale sound of Dave’s spare key in the door. Karkat had been hesitant to gift the key to the demon so soon, but the sound of Dave’s quiet return instantly made the slight risk worth it. 

Karkat sat up straighter as Dave walked in backwards through the door, two large boxes of pizza in his hands. “Sup,” Dave nodded at him, smirking underneath his shades. “I thought I’d feed us tonight. I hope you like pizza.”

“It’s perfect,” Karkat replied happily, jumping up to help him get the boxes on the table. Karkat was quick to pour two glasses of the apple juice Dave was so fond of, a fact which was probably due to the juice’s ridiculously high sugar content.

“I was hoping that we could have the rest of the day in,” Dave said, flirting shamelessly, the collar of his shirt loose to reveal one finely chiseled collarbone. “I took off work tonight. The club’s down for maintenance.”

“I should send you emotional text spiels more often,” Karkat joked, settling into place at the table as he watched Dave bustle around his kitchen, fumbling through cabinets for plates and forks who’d origin he was still uncertain of. It was incredibly endearing. 

“Yeah,” Dave said, swallowing, the tips of his ears turning red. That was the only sign the Incubus had that he was feeling embarrassed- Dave was so good at concealing his emotions that it often left Karkat feeling put-out, but these little things he noticed like the red ears just cemented Karkat’s growing affection. 

Dave swallowed again. “That was… really something,” He ended lamely, fishing for words before continuing in a fast-paced flood, his hands clutching the silverware. “Do you really think that I don’t like you back?”  
“No,” Karkat answered, decisive. “I know you like me back, idiot.” He tried to explain without ruining the good atmosphere that Dave had carried in through the door with him. “I’m just worried that you don’t like me as much as I like you.” It sounded ridiculous when said out loud. Karkat was just being obstinate. 

“So you like me, then?” Dave asked, smirking. “I had a faint suspicion.”

“Fuck off,” Karkat joked, flicking him off. “We’ve been dating for a month.”

“Has it really been that long?” Dave asked, considering him, his brow furrowed as if he were checking some internal calendar.

“Yeah,” Karkat answered, watching the demon closely. “It’s been over four weeks.”

Dave didn’t shake his head to clear unwelcome thoughts; he was too good for something that obvious, but Karkat could see the tendons in his neck tighten as Dave immediately smiled, his mask in place as he said, “So this is like our month anniversary right?” The line was delivered smoothly, a hint of devious intentions behind it.

This was good; this was on a track Karkat liked, but there was something else he noticed about the demon’s flirting. 

The difference between their first meeting and now was astounding. This time under the force of Dave’s remarkably effective flirting Karkat wasn’t blown out of the water through sheer sensory overload. He’d learned to read beneath the demon’s tone, now immune to Incubi charms that Dave couldn’t completely control.

“Nice try,” Karkat said, staring at him, prodding. “What thing or time are you counting?” He thought he knew, but it wouldn’t hurt to make sure before he began making assumptions.

“It’s nothing,” Dave answered, cagey.

Bingo. Karkat was a genius, a sad genius that yelled and cursed a lot, but brilliant still. He kept quiet about it until Dave sat at the small table beside him and Karkat cracked open one of the two boxes. He knew Dave would probably eat one of the pizzas by himself, and since it tied into what occupied the front of Karkat’s thoughts right now he asked, “Do you eat so much to replace what you’re not getting from me?”

Dave froze, his face going blank. “What?”

“Cheap pizzas aren’t exactly a fit substitute for all of the sex you’re missing out on,” Karkat pointed out, frank and deadpan to the end as he lifted out a slice of pizza for himself before saying, “Sollux told me about your ‘reputation’ before we started dating.”

Dave swallowed a bite of pizza to give himself more time to stall. His ears were red again, the flush showing clearly against his pale skin. “It’s an energy thing,” Dave explained. “I always eat this much.”

“Always?” Karkat questioned curiously, aware the demon was avoiding the point but curious enough to let himself get sidetracked. 

“Mostly,” Dave amended. “There’s meant to be a balance between what energy I get from carbs and what I get from people.”

“And right now that balance is fucked up because of me,” Karkat said softly, frowning. “How long is a month for you?”

“Why are we talking about this?” Dave asked, not looking at him.

“Because it’s fucking important,” Karkat declared, digging into his pizza with gusto, already planning for a long night. Oh yeah, he was seducing the pants off his boyfriend. Tonight. “And I am a thoughtful boyfriend who doesn’t like the idea of you fucking yourself up over me.”

“It’s getting up there,” Dave admitted, still resolutely looking away.

“Why do you always look away when I talk about sex?” Karkat asked with a flash of insight. He hated the idea of making Dave go hungry. Maybe it was time to spice things up. “It’s your eyes, isn’t it?”

Dave reached up and tapped his dark shades. “These are custom made with magic dampeners,” he explained. “I can’t help what my eyes do to people, so I keep them covered. The last thing I want to do is influence you in any way, so sometimes I try to avoid eye contact even with the glass. It helps.”

“That’s thoughtful,” Karkat said, his stomach in knots. “But what if I asked to see your eyes?”

“Right now?” Dave asked, fretting, missing the point. “That’s not a good idea.”

“Are you worked up?” Karkat asked, pushing a little, radiating sexy thoughts at the demon. Karkat was certainly worked up, and it was easy to call up thoughts about wandering hands in the dark, lingering…

“Are you trying to seduce me?” Dave asked, finally fucking catching on.

 

“It’s our month anniversary,” Karkat said seriously. “Why not make it special?”

Dave looked at him like he’d seen the light at last. “This is because I said I liked you back,” Dave guessed, the insufferable bastard. 

“Do you?” Karkat asked. 

“Fuck yes,” Dave answered without pause. “But…”

Karkat groaned. “What is it?” 

“Is this only because I said I liked you back?” Dave asked, suddenly painfully shy.

“No, it’s because I like you, and we’re both adults, and maybe it’s because I want to and you kind of need to,” Karkat said. “Dave, can I see your eyes?”

He half expected the demon to argue, but Dave must have been hungrier than he’d thought because he complied silently. 

Dave quietly slipped off his shades for the second time. It took him a moment to actually make eye contact with Karkat, and when he did Karkat immediately noticed the dark shadows that hung heavy under the Incubus’s eyes. He’d seen hungry demons before, knew what the black ink that stained their skin like ash and ink looked like up close, and while Dave wasn’t the worse he’d seen it was certainly not fucking good.  
That was all secondary though. Most of Karkat was caught up in a rush of red that ran like electricity through him. Dave’s eyes were beautiful even with the hunger stains he’d been hiding. They were such a bright, clear red that fit his pale face perfectly.

“And you kept telling me you were fine,” Karkat scoffed, reaching across the small table to trace his thumb across the dark smudges with a sudden rush of compassion. “Why?”

“I didn’t want to rush you,” Dave shrugged helplessly, leaning into Karkat’s touch. This close his eyes were lethal. Karkat felt breathless. His head was full of fog. He could feel his heart racing as he stupidly leaned forward. 

“And that’s enough of that,” Dave said, drawing away as he set his shades back in place.

Karkat blinked, the fog lifting a little but leaving its effect behind. The heat in his gut lingered. “Wow,” he said, struggling to focus. “That’s… pretty effective,” he managed to spit out the words around the urge to kiss the Incubus.

“That’s why I keep them on,” Dave said again, clearly more comfortable with his shades on. “These eyes have a mind of their own.”

“Do you wear them during sex?” Karkat asked curiously. Fuck, what would that be like if Dave’s eyes were this strong just out of nothing? Was Karkat really going to find out? 

“I have to,” Dave replied, still clueless to Karkat’s thoughts. “Otherwise people would see my red eyes and know I was a demon. These sweet shades are twofold protection.”

“Mhhh,” Karkat murmured, sliding closer, the pizza forgotten between them. “Am I seducing you yet?” He asked, feeling slightly foolish.

“This was your brilliant plan?” Dave asked, tilting his head down so that Karkat could easily reach him, his chin cocked to the side. “Ambush me when I got back?” 

Karkat wanted to kiss that knowing grin right off the demon’s face. “You don’t have work tonight,” Karkat reminded him. “I don’t have classes in the morning. We have the night to ourselves.”

“You planned this,” Dave accused him gently, and Karkat kissed him before he could go on. Dave kissed him back like the Incubus was drinking him in. It left Karkat lightheaded and giddy with excitement. 

Karkat wanted to give everything he could to the demon. He wanted to erase those hunger stains that lingered like the memory of a hundred sleepless nights under Dave’s beautiful red eyes. That was what he wanted- to share this night with Dave, to make it something special for both of them.

“You’re the sex expert,” Karkat told him when they broke apart, enthusiastic but uncertain of how to continue. “How does this work?”

“I’m not a sex expert,” Dave said, laughing, leaning back to look at him. His face was still locked into an open, kind expression, his lips rouged from Karkat’s attention like twin beacons against his pale skin as he smiled.

“Really?” Karkat said, sarcastic. “How many people have you slept with before?”

“You don’t want me to answer that,” Dave said at once, that open expression slamming back down into some careful tension.

“Wrong,” Karkat said, knowing exactly why Dave was hesitant to number what was surely an ungodly amount of people. “I actually don’t care at all. I just want to drive home the fact that you have all of the experience. I have exactly one person I’ve slept with before and that wasn’t exactly a stellar experience for me, and I want this to be good for you. So how do you normally start this?”

“Oh my God, Karkat,” Dave said, still laughing like he was amazed and awed all at once. “Just kiss me.”

Karkat happily complied. It was too easy to recall the other times they’d toed the line of going too far, but this time it wasn’t hectic or rushed. They had all the time they wanted and it built a slow fire under Karkat’s skin, heightened every time he felt the demon’s breath catch when Karkat laced his fingers through Dave’s pale hair. 

Dave kissed him like it was breathing, like he was the air itself. It sent a sharp bolt of arousal through Karkat, centered at his core where the fire Dave kindled in him was roaring its approval. This felt great and they hadn’t even done anything yet- why had Karkat thought that waiting was a good idea? He couldn’t remember anything that was outside of this moment. The rest of the world disappeared. 

His hand found the buttons of Dave’s shirt, the top few already undone. When Karkat pressed his palm against Dave’s smooth skin he felt the heat burning through the Incubus. He made quick work of the rest of the buttons but didn’t slide the shirt off, stuck marveling the planes of Dave’s bare chest. Of course he was beautiful shirtless too, that was just how the world worked even accounting for the handful of faint slashing silver scars that traced their way across his ribs. One of Dave’s left ribs had been broken once and it’d healed crooked, denting the skin above his stomach. 

He didn’t stop to ask what happened, but Dave explained anyway, breathless. “I was kicked,” he said. “The bone healed wrong.”

Sometimes Karkat could forget what tragedies must have happened in Dave’s past, but the specifics of this particular wound and what it stood for was cutting. “Does it hurt?” Karkat asked, wary of the way Dave’s side was literally sunken in on itself from the old wound.

“Only sometimes,” Dave answered, his long, scarred fingers curling over where Karkat’s hand had gone still. “And not right now.”

Karkat’s heart felt full at that. “It’s not that easy to seduce me,” he said, lying through his teeth. 

“Oh really,” Dave said, huffing out a breath of laughter. “I’d expect nothing less.”

“There will be conversation,” Karkat warned. “Long, constant conversation. There will be fucking _dialog._ ” 

“Do I need to cite my sources?” Dave asked teasingly, kissing at Karkat’s neck in a way that made the breath leave him. 

“Yes,” Karkat hissed, baring his throat. The words were getting harder as his focus left him. “Every single one. I expect footnotes even.”

“I’ll try to remember that,” Dave said breathing against him, his lips hot and wet. “Because I’m planning on thorough seduction and nothing less.”

That sent a jolt of pure heat through Karkat. They were still at the small kitchen table and as soon as Karkat realized this was unacceptable, Dave moved closer, leading with his hands. “Do you mind if I…” He made a scooping motion with his hands that Karkat in his dazed state didn’t comprehend.

“Sure,” he answered anyway, eager and completely trusting. 

Dave scooped him up like he weighed nothing, which was impressive considering Karkat wasn’t exactly in shape. Dave hefted him up like a sack of potatoes, his arm under Karkat’s knees and the other supporting his shoulders so that Karkat was cradles against his chest bridle-style. He couldn’t help but let out a surprised bark of laughter, clinging to Dave for balance. “Holy shit.”

“Bedroom or couch?” Dave asked him, like it was a fucking choice. 

“Bed,” Karkat said decisively, not hesitating to lean up and capture Dave’s lips again. He was impressed- he was thoroughly impressed as Dave literally carried him to bed. He kept his eyes closed as Dave carried him down the hall and to the door to his room. It was unlocked and Karkat had to open it for them from Dave’s arms, fumbling in the semi-darkness of the hall before he shoved it open. 

Dave was in his element. Karkat could almost see the glow of his eyes through his shades in the darkness of his room. It made his blood boil. 

Dave gently closed the door behind him with his foot without losing his balance, the agile fucker. Karkat would have fallen on his face if he’d tried the same thing.

“I’ve never been with a guy before,” Karkat admitted, obsessed with feeling how Dave’s muscles were moving under the skin of his shoulders as Karkat slid his hands under Dave’s open shirt. He was hungry for every inch of skin he could get. He wanted to hear what sounds he could make the demon make. 

“It’s only a little different from being with someone else,” Dave said, kissing him hungrily. “Don’t worry about that. What do you want to do?”

Karkat didn’t want to think specifics, not yet. “Anything,” He answered eagerly. “Everything. What all is there? What do you want?” Karkat asked Dave. “This is just as much for you as it is for me.”

“That’s perfect as it is,” Dave told him, grinning in the darkness. “You’re perfect.”

“So are you,” Karkat replied, and then Dave set him on the bed and kissed his breath away. He sank into the mattress, flexing his spine to rearrange himself and reorient. Dave followed after him, shucking off his shirt as Karkat caught sight of himself in his dresser mirror.

Dark hair, dark skin, his cheeks ruddy with a heady blush that crept up his neck. He was the opposite of Dave in every way, stocky where Dave was lithe and dark where Dave’s alabaster skin was pale enough to shine. 

For once it didn’t bother him. He felt whole and secure and valued. There was no judging in Dave’s face, and the demon must have seen hundreds of people like this, vulnerable and shirtless, enough people to know that Karkat was below average and nothing special, but that didn’t matter when Dave was gazing at him like he meant everything. 

After that, Karkat couldn’t keep his hands off Dave. He didn’t want to feel- he wanted to _be felt_. He wanted to take Dave apart with his bare hands until the Incubus screamed his name.

Somehow Karkat bet that the opposite was going to happen. He could see its gleam beneath Dave’s shades, strong enough to set his blood on fire, a promise of utter destruction. Karkat couldn’t bring himself to be afraid of the demon in his bed. He wanted Dave too badly for that. 

Karkat crossed the line first, curling his fingers at the waistband of Dave’s jeans to tug him closer and pull him on top. 

Dave gasped at the movement, his arms flexing with lean muscle on either side of Karkat as he hungrily attacked Dave’s mouth, his neck and shoulders, his chest, every part that he could reach with his lips. Karkat wasn’t going to leave any part of Dave unkissed or unloved.

“Holy shit,” Dave sighed, shaking his head to clear it. “Karkat- you’re driving me crazy.”

“Not yet I’m not,” Karkat huffed out, and with one sooth motion he rolled over. Dave instinctively followed him, grinning in the semi-darkness until Karkat had him pinned against the mattress and his grin vanished with a low groan. His head fell back, and Karkat eagerly ran his lips along the smooth column of Dave’s exposed throat, slow and sweet.

“This, this is different,” Dave said, his voice tense. “I feel different with you.”

Karkat froze everything but his lips. He could feel Dave under him and it was driving him crazy. “Is that good or bad?”

“Good,” Dave said, swallowing. “Definitely good. God, Karkat, you make me feel so good.”

“How do you normally feel?” Karkat asked, curious enough to question Dave even with miles of bare skin in front of him just begging for attention. He traced an idle scar across Dave’s ribs as he waited for an answer. 

“Obligated,” Dave said. “Weary. Sometimes bored. It’s always someone different that I’ll never see again, but with you it feels like my heart is going to explode if I don’t do something immediately.”

“Like what?” Karkat teased, and Dave gave him a shit-eating grin.

“Do you trust me?” The demon asked.

The look on Dave’s face mad him hesitate. It wasn’t that Karkat didn’t trust the demon, rather it was the fact that he respected the Incubus enough to know that Dave could devastate him and Karkat wasn’t sure if he was quite ready for that. “That depends on what you’re planning on doing,” Karkat answered honestly and Dave chuckled, the movement vibrating through him. Karkat instinctively ground down with his hips in response and Dave broke off with a choked gasp as a shudder went through him. 

“I’m going to make you feel as good as you make me feel,” Dave answered, his breath catching as Karkat continued to grind into him.

Because Karkat felt very in control of the situation, he said, “Is that a promise?”

“Do you want it to be?” Dave countered, sultry.

“Try me.” Karkat only had the time to think ‘oh shit’ as he caught the ravenous look on Dave’s face at the blatant challenge. 

Dave kissed him and his lips were fire. The tables instantly turned, as if they’d ever actually been in Karkat’s favor with an Incubus involved. Dave kissed him like he knew what he was doing, working the heat under Karkat’s skin into a frenzy of sensation at the drag of Dave’s lips. It was like every touch from earlier had planted the seeds of arousal beneath Karkat’s skin and they were all blossoming at once under Dave’s skillful fingers. Karkat couldn’t think through the feeing- there was nothing that existed outside of Dave and this moment between them. He was filled with it. 

Karkat couldn’t do anything but take it and be grateful. With Dave’s eyes safely covered there was nothing to cloud his mind, but there was just so much to feel that he couldn’t focus on anything specific. 

It came to him in delicious flashes- Dave cradling him, his shoulders pressing into the mattress as he let Dave roll again, the gleam of teeth in the dark as the Incubus kissed a line from his lips, down his throat, across the panes of his chest and down his sternum, trailing down his abdomen as his fingers kneaded at Karkat’s thighs, getting higher as his mouth reached new lows to center in on him.

“Jesus, Dave,” Karkat groaned at the teasing. “Shit.”

“I could do this all night,” Dave said, grinning as he rubbed sure circles into Karkat’s skin, tantalizingly close. “A part of me wants to. I want to explore every piece of you. I want to see how you fit together.”

“I fit together like every other person on the planet,” Karkat gasped, desperate for more.

“Ah,” Dave said, and he leaned down to kiss Karkat’s inner thigh through his pants, nipping at the fabric. “But then how can I know the best ways to take you apart?”

“Fucker,” Karkat accused, squirming at the image of Dave’s head between his legs. He felt like he was on fire with wanting Dave as the demon lifted himself back up to kiss his neck.

When Dave finally touched him there, Karkat gritted his teeth and groaned, his arm over his face at the gentle pressure of Dave’s hand on his dick. He was still in his sweatpants and the soft fabric made the slight friction worse. The feeling got better and more unbearable as he lifted his hips to help Dave slide his pants and boxers down and out of the way. The clothing hit the floor beside the bed and left Karkat naked.

“You too,” he managed to spit out, and Dave wasted no time peeling off his jeans. He kept his boxers on, the shape of him tenting the thin fabric. It felt less awkward to not be the only naked person, though that thought was a distant one. He’d always hated the naked part, insecure about how he looked even if the passing notion vanished quickly with Dave, who was gazing at him with adoration. 

“Fuck, Karkat,” Dave said, his bottom lip between his teeth. “You’re gorgeous.”

Dave continued to touch him slow and steady as Karkat shifted his hips, begging for more, every ounce of shyness evaporated. “Shit,” Karkat said, panting. “Fuck, Dave. Shit.” Karkat reached down for Dave’s own erection and palmed him through his boxers. 

Dave jerked back like he hadn’t been expecting it, the breath leaving him in a sharp whistle.

Shit, was that too bold of him? Karkat could feel the lumpy bridges of scar tissue that crossed over the demon’s thighs, thick gouges that were deep enough to show pink skin. Dave’s hands were tight on his hips as he froze, his shoulders shaking.

“Are you alright?” Karkat asked, stopping, concerned. He ignored the scars like how his eyes skipped over Dave’s broken rib. That was what he was afraid of- not Dave, not the demon, but these memories stamped across his body and what they meant. 

“Yeah,” Dave answered, his voice low and husky as he slowly relaxed again, easing his hips up and into Karkat’s touch. “I’m more than fine right now.”

Karkat touched him again, stroking him until he felt Dave’s shiver of needy breath. The demon eased himself lower again a moment later, pulling free from Karkat’s grip.

He would have complained or followed after the Incubus- he liked touching Dave, he liked watching the small movements he inspired and hearing every strained breath, but then Dave wrapped a hand around Karkat’s dick and stroked him so that all thoughts left his mind. His spine arched, his head thrown back as he groaned. His fingers found Dave’s hair and instant before he glanced down and with a lurching jolt straight to his dick he caught a spare glimpse of Dave’s eyes from behind his dark shades. A second later the demon wrapped his lips firmly around him and time lost all meaning to Karkat.

The Incubus was clearly an expert in this. He knew every way to make Karkat come unhinged and carried them out like he was going down a list. It was unbearable and Karkat never wanted it to end as he fought to keep his hips still with Dave’s tongue lapping at him. 

It was rhythm, it was silent music, a haze of moans and panting breaths that Dave worked as expertly as he drew club crowds to reverent excitement with his turntables, and this time the crescendo was all for Karkat. It was like Dave had crawled inside of his blood and set his cells to dancing. His nerves were singing. 

The twisting heat in Karkat’s gut rose to a dangerous level, surpassed it, and kept building. He couldn’t stop cursing, writhing in the sheets, his toes curling as Dave hummed around him. “Shit! Dave…” he warned, and Dave sucked harder in agreement, driving him absolutely crazy in the time from then to when he lost control and seized up, his hips stuttering as he came in a wave of fire that blacked out his vision with white.

Karkat only came back around to full awareness to the feeling of Dave gently massaging his limp, sill-shuddering thighs, humming that same tune under his breath. 

“Holy fuck, Dave,” Karkat murmured, quiet for once as he lounged in the euphoric afterglow. “We should have done that ages ago.”

Dave laughed, obviously pleased.

“Wait,” Karkat said, rising up to half-sitting again, his eyes locked on his boyfriend. “What about you? You didn’t finish.” The sudden guilt that hit him was crippling in its strength.

“Don’t worry about it,” Dave told him, shrugging, a lazy, smooth smile on his face. “Incubi, we don’t exactly work like that. I’m good. More than good, actually.”

“Are you sure?” Karkat asked, concerned. “Then how the fuck do you work? I can adapt. Its super kinky isn’t it?”

Dave kissed him again and he sighed contently, feeling boneless and worn out.

“We can worry about that later,” Dave drolled, teasing. “So. How do you feel?”

“Oh my God, it is super kinky ," Karkat let out a breathless laugh, unsuprised. "I can’t even describe it,” Karkat said truthfully. “Great. Fantastic. You?”

“The same,” Dave said with quiet confidence. “I feel what you feel, remember?”

That did make him feel slightly better, but there was still a tint of discomfort in him. “Shit,” Karkat laughed nervously, a wicked part of him sending the demon the memory of how his lips had felt.

Dave hummed again, completely content as he laid down beside Karkat. “I know,” he said. “I was there. It was great.”

“You should get some sleep. I can feel you want to.”

“There’s no way you’re sleeping,” Karkat guessed, zeroing in on the demon. “Can I see your eyes again?”

“Did you expect it to work that fast?” Dave asked him, smirking. 

“I was hoping,” Karkat admitted. He wanted to see the _proof_. He wanted those dark stains fucking gone. He didn’t want Dave to ever be hungry again. “I don’t want you to be hungry.”

“I can promise you I’m not,” Dave said, snuggling into him in a way that made Karkat’s entire body sing. “I don’t think I’ll be hungry for a very long time. I’ve never felt like this before.”

“Good?” Karkat asked, his tongue too soft and stupid for more words than that, throwing the same question from before back at him. They’d have to talk later, but for now sleep was pulling at him with strong, gentle fingers that mirrored Dave when the demon slid back upwards to lie beside him.

“More than good,” Dave answered, pulling the blanket up and over them. Karkat was utterly spent, so spent that he didn’t argue as he accepted the demon’s comforting presence. 

Dave kissed him goodnight. Karkat’s eyes drifted closed, completely worn out as he fell away to sleep.


	12. Chapter twelve baby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And WE'RE BACK TO PLOT
> 
> Now let's get this story rolling! I've got a lot of miles to cover still before stuff get's hot
> 
> i'm talking PLOT. P_L_O_T .pLoT PlOt PLOT! All the plot!

A week passed. Then another. Everything was going great. It was Sunday again and Karkat was leaning against Dave, struggling not to fall asleep as his Dad preached from the pulpit. He’d been up all night working on a term paper on how poetry was an inherently pretentious art form propagated through its own elitist nature. He was expecting a 100% as a grade, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to pour out every drop of his frustration and rage into the essay. 

Kanaya nudged his leg with her shoe, her face stiff and glowing. Karkat snapped back into awareness as he felt Dave go tense beneath him. He could physically hear the demon’s heart rate spike. Karkat blinked the sleep from his eyes and glanced around. He could hear titters from the rest of the congregation, shocked, indecent mutters as Karkat caught sight of the disturbance. 

Cameras. 

The news crew that was currently stalking Dad and Porrim was back like they were every service, but this time they were in the building instead of just crowding the sidewalk outside.

Karkat felt his blood boil. Those fuckers had actually stormed through the doors in the middle of worship. This was unheard of.

He shot a quick look at his father, who was acting as if he couldn’t see the intruders like the peacemonger he was. Karkat scowled as Dave ducked low to try and stay out of sight. 

Porrim’s hands were tight on the back of the pew in front of them, her knuckles glowing white. Her arms were glowing too, lit up with her indignation. Her jade green eyes were blazing. “Are they recording?” She asked, her voice low and furious. 

Kanaya was texting an SOS to Kankri. “I believe they are,” she noted, her thumbs flying as she also glowed incandescent. 

The news crew was still in the hallway outside of the sanctuary. They weren’t dare brave enough to actually enter the body of the church, but they stood just outside of it like a swarm of wasps and pointed their massive cameras inside like they owned the place. 

They were saying something- Karkat could clearly make it out through the silence of the rest of the building. 

“Dr. Vantas, Miss Maryam, would you like to give an interview on the proposed register after this morning’s tragedy?”

What the fuck?

Kankri appeared at the back of the sanctuary, summoned by Kanaya as, sparing not one spare glance at the camera crew, he snapped the dividing doors between the hallway and the sanctuary closed with a muffled, final bang. Those doors had never been closed as far back as Karkat could remember; it was a point of peace with their Dad to have doors to his sanctuary that were never closed, and when moved a cloud of old dust rained down. Kankri wiped the dust from his hands like it was something nasty and nodded at his siblings before vanishing back down a side door. 

“Shit,” Dave whispered, not loosening his hold on Karkat even as he peeked his head back above the pew to check for himself that the cameras were gone. “Why are they back here?”

“I have no fucking clue,” Karkat whispered back as softly as he could, still drawing stern glances of disapproval from his neighbors. Mrs. Longton fanned herself profusely at the expletive, her cheeks red. 

Karkat rolled his eyes but still felt slightly guilty under the old woman’s disappointed glare.

The rest f the sermon passed quickly. Porrim looked like she wanted to speak, but she held her tongue until after Dad dismissed the congregation in prayer. 

“Porrim,” Karkat said as soon as light, dismayed chatter broke out from the rest of the room. “What the actual fuck happened?”

Porrim set her face in her hands. “I…I’ve got to go,” she said, still looking at her phone. Karkat could see the dozens of message alerts plastered across the screen. “I think something’s going on.”

“You think?” Kanaya voiced Karkat’s dismay for him, her voice shrill. “Porrim, what happened?”

“I’m not sure yet,” Porrim snapped, her fangs visible. “I’ve got to go.” She stood and immediately went to Dad, who left with her, whispering with their heads together. There was something so dark in his Dad’s face, something that made Karkat’s stomach churn. Something bad had happened, he was sure of it. 

Karkat’s suspicions were raised. He pulled out his own phone and saw that he had pesters from Aradia and Sollux. He nearly ignored them, too caught up in the current mystery to worry about whatever friend bullshit was going on with them, but some of the words caught his eye. 

“ _Shooting.” “Sollux.” “Gunman._ ”

Karkat opened the message so fast that he nearly dropped his phone, his heart in his throat. 

“Karkat?” Dave asked, concerned as Karkat hastily tore through the lengthy message Aradia had left him.

apocalypseArisen (AA) began Pestering carcinoGeneticist (CG) at 12:14pm!

AA: karkat  
AA: karkat please pick up y0ur ph0ne this is seri0us please  
AA: Look I’m even dropping my quirk to type faster just please answer me. Are you okay?  
AA: Sollux has been shot. So have a lot of other people. There was a shooting down Riverwalk an hour ago. People are dead, Karkat.  
AA: They’re saying a Daemon did it.  
AA: I’m in the hospital where they took Sollux I don’t know how bad it is or why he was even out there but the doctors won’t tell me anything! Please. I’m going to go crazy if I have to sit here by myself waiting for news.  
AA: It’s St. Andrew’s hospital, next to Reedmonet.  
AA: I know you’re in church but please come quickly. 

apocalypseArisen (AA) has become an Idle Chum!

The messages were from fifteen minutes ago. Karkat’s blood ran cold. He quickly backspaced to his lock screen and opened Sollux’s message with fingers that were shaking so badly that he could barely fumble through the motion. 

Sollux’s message was from nearly an hour and a half ago.

twinArmageddons (TA) began Pestering carcinoGeneticist (CG) at 10: 49am!

TA: hey kk  
TA: ii’m… feeliing weiird? ii don’t know.  
TA: iit’s my head. jesus fuck my head hurts  
TA: ii’m not sure why ii’m textiing you. ii know you won’t answer until after lunch but  
TA: god  
TA: aa iisn’t answeriing  
TA: ii…  
TA: fuck  
TA: ii’ll talk to you later ii guess ii’ve got to go

twinArmageddons (TA) has become an Idle Chum!

“Karkat?” Dave said again, concerned. 

His ears were swimming- everything sounded muffled. Karkat wordlessly stared at the last line Sollux had sent him, his hands shaking. “It’s Sollux,” he said, instantly nearly in tears. “He’s been shot.” He didn’t know what else to say. The words stuck in his throat. 

“What?” Kanaya screeched as Karkat wordlessly handed her his phone as an explanation. 

“We’ve got to go,” Karkat said, the realization settling into his bones like ice. Sollux was _hurt_. Sollux had been _shot_. His dorky, nerdy best friend was in the hospital. “Aradia told me where they took him. There was a shooting.”

Dave instantly took over, his hands covering Karkat’s. He hadn’t realized how pale his hands had gotten as the blood ran out of them to collect in his frozen core. “Hey,” Dave said gently, “It’s going to be okay. Let’s go. I’ll call a cab. You should probably tell your dad though. I’ll be right back.” Dave vanished through the crowd of people, all of them just pulling out phones and seeing the news splashed in texts and emergency city alerts from a dozen different cell phones. There had been a shooting. 

He followed after Dave, through where everyone was funneling out of the building. Dave had magically already managed to hail on of the cabs that hung round outside to pick up the mass exodus of churchgoers. He held the door open as Karkat and Kanaya piled in. Dave slid in next to her and slammed the door behind them. 

“St. Andrew’s hospital,” Karkat spit at the cabbie. “Please. As fast as you can.”

“Okay,” the man said, drolling, a young teen with a patchy beard that needed shaving. He adjusted the rear view mirror to study them and Karkat caught the rank scent of weed. “Hospital huh? You kids hear about that shooting that just happened?”

“Just fucking drive!” Karkat screeched at him, fear shortening his patience. “Our friend was shot.”

The man’s eyes widened as he took in their teary faces, and with a stern, steady look he put both hands on the wheel. “You’d better hold on then,” he said, and then the guy fucking _floored it_.

The cab jumped into traffic with the protest of loud brakes forces to move too quickly. They cut between cars like a shark through the water, going dangerously fast as the cabbie drove twenty over the limit towards the hospital. 

Kanaya was digging through her purse for the money to pay with as Dave reached across her to take hold of Karkat’s hand. He squeezed Karkat’s fingers gently with wordless support. 

Kanaya was already wiping away tears, her inner glow dull and nearly gone with grief. 

“He’ll be okay,” Karkat said out loud, forcing himself to believe it. Karkat stopped Kanaya from digging futilely through her purse as he took two twenties out of his wallet and set them on the divider between them and the cabbie. 

“Fuck yeah, man,” Said the cabbie, gunning the car forward again before the light turned green, still stoned out of his mind. 

They made the lengthy trip in record time. Karkat let the cabbie keep the change as they poured out of the cab the instant it drifted to a sideways stop in front of the ER. Karkat nearly ran into the building, his heart pounding. Dave stuck close to his side, clearly uncomfortable in the hospital but unwilling to leave. 

Karkat’s heat was pounding so hard he could feel it in his ears. “Hello,” Karkat said to the nurse behind the visitor’s desk, where a red sign proudly proclaimed that Daemon kind were welcome visitors. He would have snorted if he wasn’t so worried. “We’re here to see Sollux Captor. He was in the shooting earlier and they brought him here.”

The nurse’s blankly smiling face immediately sharpened into something serious. “All shooting victims are being treated on the third floor,” She said, her voice a whisper. “You can wait in the waiting room up there, but don’t expect to see him soon or learn any news. We’ve been flooded.”

Karkat understood and was grateful that they were even being allowed to wait on news in the hospital. “Thank you,” Karkat told her, and he sprinted for the elevator, his mind stuck on the image of Aradia waiting upstairs all alone. That was an unacceptable idea

The 3rd floor waiting room was packed with two dozen other people who were there for the exact same reason. Many people were crying. Most were on their phones. Often they were in small clumps of people, leaning on each other for support and prayer. There was an unfamiliar vampire in the mix, his skin so dull that Karkat could barely tell he was a demon even if it wasn’t for the large berth of empty space around him in the crowded room. He brightened when he saw Kanaya like they knew each other, but Karkat doubted it. He knew all of the coven folks Kanaya hung around with. 

Aradia was in the corner, her hair a mess, in a tattered skirt with the hem torn and hanging in rags. It was her old painting uniform, and black was still smudged under her fingernails. She’d taken off her shoes and was barefoot, her eyes intermittedly glazed with white. “Karkat! Kanaya!” She said, rising from her chair. “Over here!”

Karkat trudged through the sea of people to reach her, his sister and boyfriend following after him. “Aradia,” he said, thankful to see her unharmed. “What the fuck happened?”

“I’m not sure,” she said, her lip between her worrying teeth. “The police called me. They said they found my number in his phone.”

That wasn’t good. “They’re just being thorough,” Karkat said hopefully. “I’m sure he’s fine.”

Aradia didn’t look so sure. 

“What do you know?” He asked her, knowing that Aradia hadn’t just sat here, waiting for an answer from the staff. He knew her too well for that. 

Her eyes glazed over with white again, the change sudden and frightening if he wasn’t used to it by now. He’d known the psychic for years. Aradia was always communing with the dead, and in a hospital there should be no shortage of eager speakers. 

“It’s crowded in here,” Aradia said, staring forward at nothing. “There’s so many voices to hunt through. I… I think four people have died.”

Dave gave Aradia an uneasy glance as she announced the death count with such ease, sliding close to block other waiting room attendants from seeing her eyes. 

“And Sollux?” Karkat asked, not daring to breathe. 

“He’s not one of them,” Aradia said, decisive as her eyes opened. “I would recognize his voice in an instant.”

Cold relief flooded through Karkat’s system. _Sollux was alive._

“When will we know how he’s doing?” Karkat asked, rubbing at his eyes to hold back the tears. Shit. He tried to fight back his stupid overactive tear ducts. Now was not the time to fall apart. 

“I’ve been asking the same thing for an hour,” Aradia said, frustrated as her eyes glazed over again. “If the doctors won’t help, I’ll find others more willing to give answers.”

“Be careful,” Kanaya ordered. “Don’t hurt yourself to save a few hours’ worth of time. Sollux wouldn’t want that.”

Aradia frowned, but her eyes returned to their normal brown. She looked curiously at Dave. “Dave, I presume?” She asked, unsurprised. 

Dave nodded. “Hi,” he said, shaking her hand. “Karkat’s told me about you.”

“I wish we could have met under better circumstances,” Aradia fretted, her hands in her hair. “I’ve been trying to catch you for weeks.”

“I get that a lot,” Dave said sheepishly. 

Aradia just looked sad. “This is terrible,” she announced grandly before setting her face in her hands with weary exhaustion. She spoke from between her fingers. “I proclaim this to be the worst day of my life.”

“Things will get better,” Dave promised. “Believe me- things always get better in time.”  
…

 

The wait took another four hours. The doctors and nurses took their time before they started taking names from the waiting friends and family as more and more poured in as the hours passed and word spread. A blood drive was set up in the lobby to help support the more than a dozen wounded.

Karkat sat back in his chair with a needle in his arm. Aradia did the same. A nurse barked ‘Hands!” at her before inspecting her fingernails for paint and evidence of the extreme shaping that some Infrit used to look human. Once satisfied that Aradia wasn’t Daemon kind, the nurse took blood form her arm too. She didn’t bother with asking Kanaya, who was clearly a vampire and not a viable blood donor. She did ask Dave though, rounding on him with houndish intensity. “You,” the nurse said, holding out her gloved hand. “Would you like to donate?”

Karkat nearly winced, and not from the familiar prick of the needle in his arm. 

“No,” Dave answered smoothly. Kanaya stared at him like she was adding to a mental tally. Karkat rolled his eyes. 

The nurse didn’t hang around to ask why- she had a dozen other people to get to as a second nurse hooked Aradia up. 

Karkat stared at the blood running out of his arm and into the clear bag at his side. He’d done this once a month for years; he could have done this with his eyes closed, but the twisting in his gut was a new feeling. He’d never given blood like this, before had always been for the covens, not disaster victims. “What blood type is Sollux?” He asked curiously. 

“AB,” Aradia answered, her voice tight. “You?”

“B positive,” Karkat answered, crestfallen. 

“I’m O negative,” Aradia shifted in her seat as her eyes flashed white again, keeping one ear on the Dead. She squinted at Dave, who was one of the only people in the room not hooked into a blood bag. That, plus his indoor shades, was near-damning. It was beyond suspicious when the only two other people not donating blood were obviously vampires. To onlookers, Dave was either a demon or a heartless bastard. 

“You know,” Dave said lightly, addressing the unspoken Daemon- elephant. “You could just ask.”

Karkat stared at him in shock, but Aradia nodded. “The Dead do not like you,” she told him, her face confused. “I’ve never encountered such a thing before.”

Dave looked intrigued. “They don’t like me?” He sounded offended, slightly hurt.

“They’re scared of you,” Aradia said, blinking her white eyes. Karkat’s blood was cold. “Why?” She asked. “There’s so little that scares the Dead. So, why you?”

“Am I supposed to have an answer to that?” Dave asked, aiming for joking but too nervous to pull it off. 

“So you are a demon,” Kanaya said triumphantly, reading between the lines. “Me and Porrim had a bet.”

Karkat groaned and mock-growled at his sister. “You fucking _what?_ ” He said, outraged. 

“Did you win?” Dave asked. 

“Yes,” Kanaya mused, slightly smug. “I believe I just did.”

“Damn,” Dave sighed, complaining as he nudged Karkat’s side with his elbow. “Karkat, your whole family is going to catch on.”

Karkat nudged him back supportingly. “It’s okay,” he said truthfully. “They won’t judge you.” He left Kankri out of things- that douchebag was still set to apologize. Karat wasn’t slow to forgive. Dave’s secret seemed like such a little thing to worry about when they still didn’t know how Sollux was doing, but it mattered to Dave so Karkat felt saddened that he’d drug Dave here only to have his cover blown in a hospital he clearly wasn’t comfortable in. That hadn’t been what he wanted at all. 

“Does Mituna know?” Karkat asked, feeling sick at the prospect of clueing in Sollux’s older brother. 

“I’ll call him later,” Aradia promised as the nurse removed the needle. “He’s still off studying abroad.”

Karkat was similarly unhooked and flexed his arm, his inner elbow sore. 

“Captor?” The nurse up front called at last, reading the name off a clipboard. “Is there a Captor family here?”

“At last,” Aradia muttered under her breath, jumping up from her chair and sliding her shoes back on. The four of them made their way to the front of the crowd. 

“We’re here for the Captors,” Aradia said, flawlessly lying through her teeth. “I’m his fiancé.”

“And them?” the man asked, eyeing Kanaya with obvious suspicion. 

“They’re with me,” Aradia said firmly.

The man shrugged, his gaze on the rest of the anxious line behind them. “Whatever,” he said, “He’s in room 301. Just don’t cause trouble.”

“Thank you,” Kanaya told the man, and they slipped past him in a clump to travel down the long, sterile hallways of the hospital until they found the right room, which Aradia flung open with no warning so hard that the door banged against the far wall with a thud.

“Jesus Christ, Aradia,” Sollux complained, groaning from his place in a thin white bed. “Could you not be so fucking loud?”

“You!” She thundered, sweeping into the room, her hair curling on invisible wind. “Will not!” She ordered, lunging at him. “Do this to me!” She picked up his hand and squeezed it hard enough that Sollux, who was alert and conscious and clearly not in moral peril, flinched and pulled his hand back. “ **Ever again!** ”

“Jesus, woman,” Sollux said, his hands over his eyes. “Take pity on an invalid, won’t you?” His eyes widened. “Oh,” he said. “Hey, Dave.”

Dave nodded at him. “Sup, Captor.”

“We know each other from work,” Sollux explained as Aradia looked baffled.

She quickly reoriented herself, focusing on her boyfriend with ghoulish intensity. “Where are you hurt?” She demanded. 

“Hand,” Sollux answered glumly, his eyes wide with remembered fear. “He shot me through the hand and the bullet got me in the shoulder.” Sollux shuddered. His left hand was nothing but a wad of gauze and tape the size of a cantaloupe. His shoulder looked worse as Sollux sneered at himself. “Because only I am stupid enough to get shot twice by the same fucking bullet.”

Aradia threw her arms around him and hugged him until his words choked off. “Hey,” He said, offended. “What happened to family only? I was sure I’d get a few hours of peace and quiet before facing the heartless firing squad of you three’s inquisition.”

“We’re engaged now,” Aradia said, smugly. “I told the nurse I’m your fiancé. I’m expecting a big ring, just so you know.”

“Oh,” Sollux said, nodding. “Yes, of course.” His pupils were dilated. He was clearly on lots of painkillers, but still willing to play along. “I’m thinking about a fall wedding, what about you?” 

Karkat nearly groaned at the romance-less idea. “No,” he said sternly, outraged. “You are not allowed to get engaged like this, not in front of me. There needs to be flowers and music and heartfelt confessions!”

“Fuck off,” Sollux told him, sinking deeper into the bed. “You’re not our wedding planner.”

“I should be,” Karkat threatened, feeling better not that he could see that Sollux wasn’t in immediate danger of bleeding out on a gurney. 

“Yeah,” Sollux mused thoughtfully. “Aradia,” he said, turning to her, his face oddly dreamy with whatever drugs he was on. “I really should propose to you one of these days.”

Aradia squeaked and threw a pillow over his face before he could continue, her face flaming red as Karkat laughed. Even Kanaya giggled. 

“Ow,” Sollux complained from beneath the pillow until Aradia freed him. “My head’s the worst,” Sollux said, still staring wall-eyes, his face oddly blank. “It hurts more than my hand even, and that’s one really fucked up limb.”

“Did the doctor explain to you your condition?” Kanaya asked, concerned. “Did you hit your head as well?”

Sollux slowly shook his head, looking pissed. “I thought I was having some sort of psychotic break. Then I realized I was hearing voices,” he said. 

Karkat remembered the cryptic texts he’d received. Suddenly things clicking into terrible place as he understood what must have happened.

“What?” Aradia said sharply, scandalized. “You were hearing voices? Why didn’t you call me? I’m the expert at hearing voices!”

“You weren’t answering your phone,” Sollux reminded her. “Anyway, the hospital staff said apparently I’m psychic now and called for a specialist. They should be here soon.”

Aradia hugged him again wordlessly as tears streamed down her face.

“Somehow,” Sollux continued like he didn’t feel her embrace. “I blame you. This is your fault, isn’t it?”

“Oh, Sollux,” Aradia cried. “I’m so sorry.”

“What?” Karkat said, utterly confused. “Sollux, you’re a fucking psychic?”

“Either that or crazy,” Sollux answered blankly. “Apparently hearing the voices of the soon to be deceased doesn’t leave much of a middle ground.”

“Fuck,” Karkat said, concerned. “Are you alright?”

“Maybe I will be,” Sollux said closing his eyes. “Right now? Not so much.”

“Shit,” Kanaya said, distressed. 

“Aradia,” Sollux said, turning to her, his eyes flickering towards her. “You should have been there. You could have stopped it. You could have punted that gunman through a wall or dropped a car on him. All I could do was get my fool self shot. What fucking gives?” Sollux groaned again, clearly in pain. “I figured out what was going on too late to stop it from happening.” Sollux was nearly in tears, his eyes were watering. “I tried, God- I _tried_ to save them.”

“Sollux,” Karkat said, reaching for his friend. “It’s okay. You did your best.”

“No, I didn’t,” Sollux snorted. “I don’t have telekinesis like Aradia. I’m not strong like Kanaya. I’m just a dumb human who got in way over his head and nearly died as a result of my meddling with fate.”

“No,” Aradia shut him down, her voice hard. “That’s not how things work. Fate is flexible.”

“I think it does,” Sollux protested. “I’m the one lying in a bunk, remember?”

Aradia looked away. “You’ll be okay though, right?”

The beeping of the heart monitor was the loudest thing in the room as Sollux answered. “Sure, whatever,” he said, closing his eyes again. “My arm will heal. My hand’s fucked, but with some PT I might regain enough fine motor control to start DJing again. The Doc sad my nerves are fucked but still connected. Hurts like a son of a bitch.”

Karkat’s heart hurt for his friend. “It’s okay,” Karkat said, believing it. “You’re going to be okay.”

“It’s okay,” Sollux echoed, disbelieving. “It’s going to be okay.”

There was a knock on the door and a doctor in blue entered. “Sollux, right?” he said, checking the chart at the foot of the bed. 

“That’s me,” Sollux answered glumly, shooting Aradia a sour look. 

“Hmm,” the doctor hummed, hurriedly scanning over the notes. “One clean pass through and one lodged bullet that had to be removed from your shoulder joint. All in all, you’re one incredible lucky guy.”

“Har har,” Sollux laughed without humor. “How long do I have to stay here?”

“A few more days,” the doctor said with patience born of a thousand unruly patients. “Just so that we can make sure there’s no signs of infection.”

“What about a spellworker?” Aradia asked curiously. “Wouldn’t they be able to speed up the healing process and remove the chance of infection?”

Karkat coughed loudly to cut her off, remembering the sign about Daemon kind from earlier. Christian-affiliated hospitals like this didn't serve demons, and they sure as hell wouldn't employ an magician. 

The doctor shot him a grateful look, the bastard. “It’s against policy to have any spellworkers on staff,” he explained, flipping through the charts. 

“What about psychics?” Sollux asked glumly. “I thought you were calling one in for me.”

“We will make an appointment with the exotec specialist for you,” The doctor explained. “We don’t actually have one on staff ourselves.”

“Forget about it,” Sollux said, turning away from the doctor. “I already have a specialist lined up.

Aradia beamed at him, but the man didn’t notice. “Actually, Mr. Captor, we have to set you up with a licensed specialist ourselves, as per policy.”

Sollux groaned again. “And how much will that cost?” he complained. “I’m a student.”

“That’s what health insurance is for,” the man said kindly, dodging the question. “Now, it’s a good thing you have some friends here. Most aren’t so lucky.”

“Do I get to know what the hell happened?” Sollux asked curiously, perking up. “That guy… he just opened fire on us.” Silence met his words. The man didn’t answer. 

“I’m afraid the police are still dealing with that,” The doctor said at last. “It’s my business to help the survivors, not pursue justice for them.”

“But the guy’s dead,” Sollux said, looking away again. “I know he is- I heard him first. What justice will matter to a dead man?”

The doctor looked beyond uncomfortable staring into Sollux’s clear, bi-colored eyes. “It’s not my place to say,” he said, slowly backing away as he left them. The door swung closed on its own with a little mental push from Aradia. 

Karkat, dave, Kanaya, Aradia, and Sollux were left alone in the hospital room. Karkat stared at his friends and sister wordlessly, his heart full and his mouth empty of the words to say.

Aradia picked up his slack with ease. She kept it short and simple, no long-winded speech like he would have done. “Something terrible happened here today,” she announced, holding the hand not riddled with a bullet hole. She closed her eyes. “Let’s pray that tomorrow is better.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually had no idea this chapter was happening until I wrote it, but it fits in with my plans so nicely that I had to actually write it out because this whole thing is me tackling the issues of society and my hands were tied. 
> 
> Poor Sollux. This makes Karkat the only normal human in his friend group -_-


	13. chapter 13teen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the slow update. school midterms hit me hard just like for the last chapter.

Chapter 13

It was the day after Sollux had been released from the hospital and him and Aradia were hanging out in Karkat’s apartment while he cooked for them. John and Jane were set to come over later to complete Karkat’s list of party guests. Dave was sleeping on the couch, lightly napping until the food was ready. The Incubus had been working double time at the nightclubs with one of the City’s only two actually competent DJs down for the next few weeks, and Sollux had left a lot of slack behind with his injury for the demon to pick up. 

Karkat shot the sleeping demon a worried glance as he sautéed the stir-fry he was fixing for everyone. Dave had been slinking around a lot more than normal, paranoid about the cameras that were increasingly stalking Karkat, his family, and now his friends. When he wasn’t working or sleeping at his apartment he was hanging out with Karkat.

Which was fine, it was, Karkat loved having his boyfriend constantly around. He loved it when he had Dave asleep on his couch. He loved fixing dinner for the two of them. He loved how Dave chased away the loneliness of an empty apartment and filled it with himself so that Karkat didn’t feel alone anymore. 

What Karkat didn’t love was the thing causing the change in Dave’s behaviors. The Incubus was scared- and he was trying to hide it from Karkat. 

Like vultures, the media descended onto the ruin left in the aftermath of the tragedy. They even followed after Sollux for a while, until Aradia had slammed the door in their faces from ten feet away much like she’d taken to shutting off the TV whenever she entered a room and heard the same news reel that had been running non-stop for days. 

The realization left a sour taste in Karkat’s mouth as he diced the onions. “Almost done,” he grunted, stirring in the rest of the veggies. 

Aradia lifted up one of Karkat’s spoons she’d raided form his drawer, her focus on Sollux. “Now,” she said, “Concentrate.”

Sollux stared at the spoon with his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to lift the silverware with his mind. Red and blue sparks appeared around the spoon, but it didn’t so much as wiggle between Aradia’s fingers.

Sollux scowled and gave up with a low shrug of his thin shoulders. 

“Try again,” Aradia ordered, somehow still upbeat after the one hundredth failure in a row. The spoon sat unbent in Aradia’s palm even after an afternoon spent trying to mentally break it.

“Not right now,” Sollux groaned. “We’ve been at this all day.”

“Because it’s important!” Aradia declared. 

The doorbell rang. Dave picked his head up at the noise, maybe not as asleep as Karkat would have liked as he jumped nimbly up to answer the door. Jane and John walked in accompanied by Kanaya, who was wearing a severe frown.

“Porrim couldn’t make it,” she explained, her eyebrows drawn together. “Something unexpected came up.”

“Hey Jane, John,” Karkat greeted, staring at the amount of food he was preparing and hoping that he’d have enough to serve everyone. “Is Tavros coming too?”

“Maybe,” John said, throwing himself onto the couch next to Aradia. “He said he wasn’t sure.”

“He always says that,” Sollux complained. “You should have drug his ass over here.”

John shrugged. 

Karkat rolled his eyes and went back to the stir-fry. The chicken had to be perfect. This was Sollux’s celebration night to welcome him into the field of exotic specialists- the psychics that made up a small portion of mankind’s magician population.

According to Aradia, Sollux was rare even among the rarest. “He’s psionic,” she’d explained to Karkat in a low whisper. Sollux had been asleep in the hospital next to her, his face slack with painkillers. “Those are rare even to us. It’s why he was such a late bloomer and why he can hear the voices of the soon-to-be-dead, not the dead themselves.”

Karkat had squinted at her, concerned. “That’s not… bad, is it?”

She just looked sad. “I’m not sure,” she answered “There’s a lot about psionics that we don’t know.”

Karkat couldn’t stop himself from glancing every so often at his friend, noticing the new blue and red sparks that erratically jumped around his head and glanced off his fingers in errant pattern-less lines like lightning. Aside from the color, the sparks didn’t look any different from the white flashes Aradia produced while using telekinesis, but something about the sight of them lifted the hairs on the back of Karkat’s neck. 

John turned on the TV. The news was on for maybe five seconds before Aradia threateningly glared at John, who gulped and changed the channel to a generic show about interior design. Sollux snickered and tossed the unbent spoon at him.

Dave came up behind Karkat, who was dicing more tomatoes for the meal. “Hey, the demon said, hugging him around the waist. “Smells great, Karkat.”

Karkat was already heated from standing hunched over the stove for so long, but Dave’s hands were still warm against his skin. Karkat turned to his boyfriend and gestured to a cutting knife. “I won’t argue if you want to help me dice the chicken,” he suggested, his fingers stained with soy sauce. 

Dave dutifully picked up the knife and pulled the chicken towards him. “I’ll dice this chicken so fine it won’t even look like chicken when I’m done with it,” Dave promised.

Karkat made an angry noise and swatted at him with his mostly-clean hand. “No, none of that,” he complained. “I want it in cubes, not mush.”

“Cubes it is,” Dave promised, lifting the knife as Karkat turned back to the vegetables.

For an instant, the sheer domesticity of the scene struck him speechless as he and Dave made dinner for their friends. He could hear Kanaya laughing from the living room, the pan before him sizzling with delicious scents that wafted up from the cooking food. He was graduating at the end of the school year, his classes were going fine, and Karkat still had the ghost of Dave’s hands imprinted on his hips.

For a single, shining moment… everything was fine with the world. 

Then Sollux laughed from the living room and Karkat was reminded how differently this night could have turned out.

Sollux, the bastard, had been one of the lucky ones. The nine people killed hadn’t gotten to go home. Of the two dozen wounded, many were still in the hospital with months of recovery in front of them. 

“Try again,” Aradia was saying, laughing as Sollux bent the spoon with his fingers behind his back before presenting it with a sarcastic flourish. Dave was dicing the chicken next to him. Everything was fine with the world but suddenly Karkat wanted to cry. 

He grabbed at Dave instead, swallowing down his feelings telling himself that he was just being overly sentimental. “Hey,” he said, checking on the state of the chicken to see that the Incubus had already diced all of it into perfect, neat squares. It looked professional. Jane herself couldn’t have done better. 

“Sup,” Dave said, sliding the plate towards him with a wink. “How’d I do?”

“And you said you haven’t really cooked before,” Karkat scoffed, taking the chicken cubes to add them to the pan. “These are fucking perfect, you show-off.”

Dave shrugged. “I just know how to handle a knife,” he said, not forthcoming with the details that Karkat didn’t really want to know anyway. The subtle reminder of the demon’s past just made Karkat all the more thankful Dave was here tonight. 

Karkat was determined to make this night perfect. He shook his head to clear the lingering dark thoughts and focused on the meal as Kanaya attempted to braid Aradia’s wild hair. 

When the food was done, Karkat gathered everyone into the kitchen. “Come on, you insufferable pricks,” he called out. “Food’s ready.”

His friends migrated en masse to the kitchen table, surrounded by mis-matched chairs cannibalized from every other room in the house to make enough seats for everyone as he set the pans in the middle of his small table.

Aradia fished the cake put of the fridge. “Alright,” she said, lighting the candles with small snaps of her fingers to that flame jumped into being. She beamed at Sollux, smiling from ear-to-ear. “Welcome to your new life!” she said, slapping the cake down in front of her boyfriend.

The cake was decorated with red and blue icing, the word psionic inked across its face in neon lettering. Sollux groaned at the sight and put his head in his uninjured hand. “Why couldn’t I have just been a fucking spellcaster?” He complained as Aradia rolled her eyes. “At least they don’t come with a stupid color scheme.”

“Hey,” Karkat and John said at the same time. John continued his thought before Karkat could interrupt. “You could be plain old human like the four of us,” he said, mistakenly including Dave in his count.

The Incubus didn’t correct him, so neither did Karkat as he smiled a pained smile. “Just shut up and eat,” Karkat said, divvying up the food onto everyone’s plates. 

“Karkat, this looks fantastic,” Jane complemented, moving the veggies around with her fork to inspect them. “When did you learn how to cook so well?”

“I must have picked it up sometime a while back,” Karkat shrugged, dumping more than a double helping onto Dave’s plate. 

John continued to talk with his mouth full. “So,” he said. “Karkat. You haven’t found a new roommate yet?”

“Not yet,” Karkat said, sitting down at last. God, the food did smell good. He was eager to taste the fruits of his hard work as he dug into the plate with a fork. “I’ll find someone new eventually.”

“Oh,” John said, turning his attention back to the TV across the room. 

God, that kid could watch some HGTV. It brought back memories of the blue-eyed boy on his sofa watching those shows into the early mornings and critiquing the shit out of them back when John was still his roommate, lamenting about the lack of booby-traps they built into perfectly ordinary, bland suburb housing. 

Yeah, Karkat had given up on having normal friends the instant he decided not to let anyone give him shit about his sisters. Honestly, it was refreshing to have friends who acted true to themselves. If there was one thing Karkat hated about people, it was how fake they could act. 

Karkat let the table chatter amongst themselves as he felt his phone vibrate and fished the thin device out of his pocket. 

gladiatorsAdvocate (GA) began Pestering carcineGeneticist (CG) at 8:44pm!

With a sigh he answered Porrim. 

GA: I’m sorry that I couldn’t make it to the get together you hosted tonight. I’m still at the office dealing with some rather bothersome local representatives who think I’m incompetent enough to not recognize the not so subtle attempt at manipulation that they are employing against me.  
CG: DRAG THEIR SORRY ASSES SIS.  
CG: THERE WILL BE TIME TO HANG OUT LATER- YOU DRAGGING WHATEVER LOSERS THESE PEOPLE ARE TO HELL AND BACK IS WHAT MATTERS RIGHT NOW.  
GA: Yes, but….  
GA: Oh, I don’t know, Karkat.  
GA: Things used to be so black and white with me. I used to always know what I wanted and where I was going, who I was working for, and what goals I was chasing. Now everything is tangled up with itself in a large smeary gray ball of pitfalls and mistaken good intentions. I just wish I knew who was really acting in my best interests so that I’m not so alone.  
GA: The media are insufferable. They hound me like dogs at all hours now.  
GA: But enough about me! How’s Sollux doing?  
CG: BETTER THAN BEFORE. HE’S STILL STRUGGLING TO USE HIS TELEKENETIC ABILITES THAT ARADIA SWEARS HE HAS.  
CG: IDK. HE LOOKS LIKE A DUD TO ME BUT ARADIA SAYS THAT PSIONICS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE UBER POWERFUL.  
CG: WHICH I CAN’T IMAGINE. SOLLUX? A SUPER POWERFUL PSIONIC? IT’S JUST SO SUDDEN.  
CG: PORRIM, ALL MY FRIENDS ARE WEIRD. THE NUMBER OF PLAIN OLD HUMANS ARE DWINDLING BY THE DAY.  
GA: That’s the story I hear all day, though with more malicious intent behind it.  
GA: the ‘plain old’ humans are starting to feel outnumbered by the magicians, who overshadow the numbers of psychics, who outnumber the scant handful of psionics that Sollux has now joined. Did you know that nearly one in twenty humans born now will be either a spellcaster or psychic?  
CG: REALLY? THE ODDS ARE THAT HIGH?  
CG: WOW.  
GA: Though the vast majority of those will be low powered and barely competent with even the weakest of spells or abilities.  
GA: The world is changing, Karkat. I can feel it shifting around me and I’m caught in the middle of it.  
CG: THAT SOUNDS EXAUSTING. I CAN’T IMAGINE WHAT THAT’S LIKE BUT I KNOW YOU’LL DO YOUR BEST.  
GA: I just pray my mistakes won’t do so much harm that it outweighs the good I’ve done, but people only tend to remember the bad things. The bad men get remembered Karkat, not the numberless good ones.  
CG: DON’T WORRY ABUT THAT. I’M SURE YOU HAVN’T MADE ANY HUGE AND CRIPPLING MISTAKES YET.  
GA: Are you so sure?  
GA: I fear I might have hand a hand in something that might hurt someone close to you, accidentally of course.  
GA: Here. I want you to see this from me first,

(GA) has sent link thevulturesfoundus!

Karkat clicked open the file. It was the front page of one of those shitty corner market stand papers that talked about weight loss while eating cake and what the Kardashians were up to next, trash like that. This page showed a clear photo of the inside of his Dad’s church, zoomed up close on the first few pews. Karkat could see the back of his own head, leaning pillowed on Dave’s shoulder beside the rest of his family from last week when they’d broken into the sanctuary to bother the congregation. 

All in all, it would have been a nice photo. His dad’s eyes were blazing with restrained fire, Kanaya’s turned face blazing with indignation. 

The problem was Dave was right there on the front page. It was just the back of his head, but the words written beside him in red were damning. 

DEMONS IN THE SERMON, the article read. “DR. KARTER VANTAS’S SON DATING DAEMONKIND???”

Karkat felt his stomach drop sickeningly. What the fuck? He clicked the second link and scanned the top of the article. 

DR. KARTER VANTAS HAS ALWAYS GONE TO GREAT LENGTHS TO INSPIRE EQUALITY IN HIS CHURCH. HIS WELL KNOWN ADOPTED VAMPIRE DAUGHTERS, THE OLDEST OF WHICH NOW SITS ON THE CITY COUNCIL, HAVE BEEN ATTENDING THE CHURCH SINCE THEY WERE YOUNG. IT APPEARS THAT THE TWO VAMPIRES AREN’T THE ONLY DEMONS WHO ATTENDED THE SERMON. HIS YOUNGEST SON KARKAT, AGE 21, WAS SEEN THIS SUNDAY GETTING COMFORTABLE WITH THIS MYSTERIOUS WHITE-HAIRED MAN THAT HE’D BROUGHT TO THE SERVICE WITH HIM. SCANDALOUS!

Karkat shut the file, blinking back tears of utter, undiluted rage as he returned to the chat with his sister. 

GA: Karkat, I’m sorry. I never imagined they would go after my family, or that they would drag your boyfriend into this mess.  
GA: I don’t know what Dave’s hiding but I thought it prudent to let him know that he made the front page. 

His fingers were shaking as he typed out a reply, the rest of the party going dim around him as Karkat’s concentration shifted to the conversation going on in his hands.

CG: OH MY FUCKING GOD.  
CG: I…  
CG: I CAN’T EVEN THINK STRAIGHT RIGHT NOW I’M SO FUCKING ENRAGED.  
GA: I’m sorry, truly I am. If I could change it I would.  
CG: NO, NO PORRIM THIS WASN’T YOUR DOING. THIS WAS THOSE GREEDY MEDIA SLUGS WITH THEIR GRUBBY PAWS ALL OVER MY OWN FUCKING BUSINESS LIKE THEY DON’T HAVE BETTER THINGS TO DO THAN STALK THE SIBLINGS OF COUNCIL MEMBERS AND PRY INTO PRIVATE RELATIONSHIPS.  
CG: OH MY GOD. I’VE GOT TO TELL DAVE. HE’S GOING TO FREAK THE FUCK OUT OH NO OH NO OH MY FUCKING GOD WHY. WHY COULDN’T THEY MIND THEIR OWN FUCKING BUSINESS?!?!  
CG: OH NO- I’M ANGRY NOW. THEY’VE PISSED ME OFF. PORRIM, HOW BEST CAN I EXTRACT A SWIFT AND CRUSHING VENGEANCE ON THESE POOR MOTHERFUCKERS?  
GA: If I could answer that question I could have solved all my problems a month ago.  
CG: DEAR FUCKING GOD I’M ANGRY. I DON’T THINK I’VE EVER BEEN THIS MAD AT SOMEONE BEFORE. I’M STRAIGHT-UP CONTEMPLATING THE MURDER OF WHICHEVER UNLUCKY PHOTOGRAPHER TOOK THIS SHIT.  
GA: Karkat?  
CG: YEAH, WHAT IS IT?  
GA: …  
GA: I’m afraid.  
CG: YOU ARE?  
GA: I’m afraid that this won’t be my only mistake. I’m afraid that next time there will be consequences, consequences that aren’t a sloppy hashline pushed by a market stop newspaper. What will the effects of my next error be? Who will I hurt when it’s the city’s daemon population I’m accidentally screwing over?  
CG: PORRIM.  
GA: No, Karkat, wait. I’m not finished yet.  
GA: I have so many people depending on me and its heavy, Karkat. I can feel the weight of them all leaning on my shoulders, and if I so much as falter in my steps I fear I’ll leave them all behind like so much refuse.  
GA: things are happening, things that I can’t control. I’m so sorry, Karkat. I’m trying my best to do the right things, but everything is gray and it’s all balanced precariously on a knife’s edge.  
CG: I CAN’T IMAGINE WHAT THAT’S LIKE. DON’T WORRY ABOUT DAVE, I’LL TAKE CARE OF HIM. JUST…  
CG: JUST FOCUS ON YOU, OKAY? I WANT YOU TO BE HAPPY, PORRIM.  
GA: But the Daemons of this city need me. They needed someone like me, a demon, a vampire even, someone who understands what it’s like to stand up for them. If not me, then who else? There’s no forest of eager hands to choose from.  
CG: WE KNEW THAT BEFOREHAND. JUST REMEMBER THAT YOU’RE NOT ALONE IN THIS. I’LL BE WITH YOU, SO WILL KANKRI AND DAD AND KANAYA AND ARADIA AND SOLLUX AND JOHN AND EVERYONE ELSE.  
GA: Thank you. I needed to hear that.  
CG: I’M STILL PISSED OFF ABOUT THE PICTURES BUT MY POTENT HATRED IS NOT DIRECTED AT YOU. YOU’RE BLAMELESS.  
GA: Okay. I’ve got to go now, but I’ll see you soon brother.  
CG: LOVE YOU SIS  
GA: <3

Karkat put his phone down and forced his focus back on the table around him. No one seemed to notice his lapse in attention, so Karkat slotted himself seamlessly back into the conversation with his mind spinning in circles.

Eventually everyone moved back into the living room. Aradia was still trying to explain to Sollux how to use his so far useless psionics.

“It’s like this,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “Focus on what you want. Focus on it so hard that you can’t imagine it not working, then make it work without moving anything but your willpower. Bend the world so that it fits the idea that you’ve created in your head.”

“Freaky stuff,” John commented.

Aradia glared at him. “Like magicians are any different,” she scoffed. “You should know. Haven’t you been dating one?”

John blushed scarlet as Aradia laughed. “We didn’t work out,” John offered lamely, shrugging his sad shoulders.

Aradia sobered up and had the decency to look ashamed. “I’m sorry,” she said. 

Sollux was still glaring at the spoon. He’d managed to control the sparks that jumped from his fingers, but they still didn’t do anything. The spoon was untouched. 

John flicked the channel and it was the news again. The police hadn’t released the species of the demon that had wielded the gun, and the newscast was debating the possibility of whether or not the gunman had been a Fae drunk on cruelty.

Sollux’s eyebrow twitched in irritation the instant before John could grab for the remote to change the channel again. Red and blue sparks popped through the air, and with the crackle of static the TV went dark.  
Silence fell across the room as Sollux blinked in shock at the dead device. He looked at Aradia for confirmation, disbelieving. “Did I do that?”

"You did," Aradia said, but she wasn;t smiling anymore. "How did it feel?" She asked, something shadowed in her eyes. 

Sollux snapped his fingers together. More red and blue sparks rained down, shivering with electricity. "Weird," he said. "Like I stuck a fork in a wall socket, but not in a painful way."

"Can you try something else?" She asked.

Sollux grunted, focusing on the spoon again. When the sparks of light surrounded the metal this time, with a metallic crunch the spoon grated to the left hard enough that it left scratched in the wood of Karkat's coffee table below it. "Shit," Sollux cursed, rubbing at the slightly burnt marks. "Sorry, Karkat. I don't know what happened." He sounded put-out, slightly ashamed. 

Aradia stared intently at the blackened scratches. The air smelled like ozone.

"No problem," Karkat sighed. "Its just a few scratches. It's not like that table was scratch-free to start with." The marks would be noticeable, but in truth it didn't bother Karkat that badly. It was just a scuffed table top. That wasn't the end of the world even if the dismayed look on Sollux's face suggested it.

"Still," Aradia cautioned. "Maybe we should take a break now. it might hurt your brain to try too must too fast."

Sollux fell back onto the couch, rubbing at his eyes. "Okay," he said. "That might be a good idea."

Karkat stared hard at his friend, concerned. 

Dave joined Karkat on the other couch, sitting close enough to sneak kisses when no one else was paying attention, which was easy with everyone else focused on the two exotecs in the room. His mouth was hot and it sent shivers through Karkat that he struggled to hide from the rest of his friends. Dave, the fucking scoundrel, only smirked in response.

Things quickly went back to normal as Aradia rebooted his TV so that John and Sollux could start the game together. They predictably fought over who got which avatar as Aradia mediated between them. 

And Karkat was happy again and it felt bright and glowy inside of him. Forget the pictures and the front page of a shitty newsreel that no one would take seriously, and forget a friend with new abilities that left tired lines around his eyes and scorch marks an inch deep in solid wood- this was what mattered. Sitting close to Dave, holding his hand as Kanaya, Jane, and Aradia laughed and Sollux and John argued. This was friendship. This was togetherness. This was everything he wanted from his life and from the world, and for once, Karkat was content.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry guys. I feel like these last two chapters were so rushed that they formed a knot in the story i'm trying to weave. I'm breaking my weekly uodate plan. I'd rather keep up the same quality rather than post lesser chapters such as this. 
> 
> It's mostly fluff in this bit, with minimal plot going on, but I can promise you this....
> 
> This is the beginning of the end. From here on out i'm talking fast-paced plot to the MAX. I'm talking emotional pain. I'm talking backstories and families and eyes like violets. I'm telling a story here- and it'll be a good one. ;)


	14. chapter fourteen yall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: "makes post about how chapter updates will slow down to over a week"  
> Also me: "Updates three days later"
> 
>  
> 
> But ok it's fall break so I had the time to finish it early. I love this chapter! It feels like i'm back on track and ready to elevate this story through the freaking roof.

Karkat sat at his computer, ripping apart some other senior’s thesis with rabid glee. The essay was due in the morning but he’d only just sat down to start on the editing assignment because his time management skills were perfection incarnate if the definition of perfection had been decided by an over caffeinated, sleep deprived college student. 

The clock read half past nine. The apartment was quiet. The only sound came from the tapping of Karkat’s fingers on his keyboard as he systematically erased every word ending with an ‘ly’ and broke up dangling gerunds with icy precision. Karkat might not have been the best at writing himself; he judged himself and his own work much too harshly to actually think that he was good at writing, but when it came to someone else’s work then damn, he was an ace editor. He vomited his rage through red ink and left no sentence unquestioned. No half-formed idea was too small to escape his incessant complaining. 

When his hands started cramping from the rapid-paced speed of his typing, Karkat sighed and leaned back from his computer to survey the carnage of his work. He still had six pages more to go before he’d be finished, but six pages was nothing to him. Karkat could be finished before 11:30 and still have plenty of time left over. 

Which meant…

Karat bit his lip, his eyes darting to the clock set into the face of his computer. Dave was working until four tonight at Club Prospit. It would be nothing for Karkat to go and get a booth in the back, listen to his boyfriend play onstage, and finish editing this sloppy beast of a senior thesis. 

Suddenly decided, Karkat slapped his laptop closed and slid it into his computer tote. He didn’t bother with getting dressed up- the bouncer knew him now. Dave kept a booth open in the back for nights like this when Karkat decided to drop by. The speck of thoughtful indulgence on Dave’s part always made Karkat feel unequally privileged when he shadowed his boyfriend while Dave was on the job. 

He wasn’t sure why the feeling on inadequacy crept up the back of his throat when he saw Dave in his DJ’s outfit. Maybe it had something to do with the sight of Dave onstage, surrounded by crowds of cheering people while Karkat lurked like a gremlin in the back of the room.

Karkat shook his head hard to clear the dark thought. God knows he could stand in front of a mirror and pick apart his own image with the same reckless abandon with which he ripped apart essays if he let himself develop a taste for self-reflection for more than three seconds.

Being with Dave helped keep those urges at bay. Being around other people helped, yeah, but Dave helped the most. Karkat wasn’t a creature built to be alone for more than a few hours at a time before the inevitable inward thoughts began to creep in uninvited and made the simple things into difficult, impossible tasks that led to sitting at his desk and agonizing over going to visit Dave at the club instead of just getting up and doing it.

Karkat sighed again and stretched out his cramping fingers, resolved now to visit Dave before this night got any worse. His bad days had become few and far between but they still packed a punch when they hit and turned his mood into a bitter, sour thing that wanted to lash out.

Karkat finished packing his school supplies together, grabbed his computer tote, and was out the door. 

Prospit was a bit of a journey away. Karkat had to take a cab to reach the other side of the city, but the bouncer gave him the head-nod that Karkat had come to expect when he showed up on the neon-lit doorstep of the fancy club, scowling and holding his computer bag. 

The booth in the back was empty just for him, and Karkat settled into place while refusing to exhume his feelings about the subject. The music was pounding and from his vantage in the back Karkat might have been in the dark beyond the reach of the lights, but at least the trade-off was this stellar view of the stage.

Dave looked stunning tonight. Not that he ever didn’t look stunning to Karkat, but there was a difference between seeing Dave in a hoodie and seeing him dressed to kill in a black ripped blazer with his white hair flashing like spun flax under the pulse of the overhead lights. His shades just added to the allure as he effortless drew every eye in the room to him like moths to a flame. 

Karkat could see the instant that Dave realized that the back booth was no longer empty. The demon’s posture both straightened and relaxed as Dave shot him a beaming grin that lit up his face even more than the lights did as under his skilled fingers the music kicked up a notch. 

With Karkat’s head nodding to the beat that wormed its way into his blood, he leaned back and opened his laptop across his knees to get back to work after nodding back at where his boyfriend was breadwinning from the stage. 

Karkat worked on his editing until the Dave’s next set had ended. For some reason the overwhelming volume of the music calmed his mind and helped him focus, and Karkat was flying through the rest of the assignment when Dave finally appeared.

His boyfriend had taken to wearing a blue glow stick on a ribbon around his neck even when it wasn’t the weekly singles night to help beat off the likely dozens of people that Karkat didn’t want to think about existing, remembering the kiss between Dave and a nameless groupie that had nearly ruined everything. Dave wore the glow stick that proclaimed him as in a relationship like a badge of honor. The sight of it made Karkat feel sappy with satisfaction. 

Dave was smiling so hard that it crinkled the skin around his eyes. He was always so ridiculously happy to see Karkat. “Hey,” he said, slipping into the booth still wearing the DJ outfit that clung to his shoulders in a way that made Karkat’s mouth water. 

“Hey,” Karkat greeted him, closing his laptop. “I heard your set. It was great.”

“Was it?” Dave teased playfully, sinking into the plush velvet of the seat coverings to lean back with his head pillowed in Karkat’s lap. “I don’t know, Karkat,” Dave complained, making himself both comfortable and in the way as Karkat dutifully tried to straighten his laptop without balancing it directly on his boyfriend’s face like he was tempted to. “I thought it was rushed and monotonous tonight.”

“Nonsense,” Karkat chided, abandoning his battle to continue working as he set the laptop aside to focus on Dave as he ran his fingers through Dave’s slightly sweaty hair. 

“What are you working on?” Dave asked, making an interrogative noise as Karkat worked his fingers into Dave’s scalp. Karkat wasn’t sure, but he thought he saw the hidden shadow of Dave’s eyes flicker closed as he lolled his head willingly into Karkat’s hands, completely limp and trusting. 

Karkat swallowed thickly, ignoring the warmth blossoming in his belly with light flickers of interest. Instead he focused on running his fingers through Dave’s hair as every scrap of tension drained out of the demon’s body. “An editing assignment,” Karkat answered, just above a whisper as the artificial music lulled the outside crowd into a strung-out snapshot of limbs and bodies on the dancefloor. 

“Sounds boring,” Dave said, smirking gently as he eased more of himself into Karkat’s lap. “No wonder you came to see me.”

Karkat rolled his eyes as he leaned back to give Dave the access he needed to drag himself fully on top of Karkat’s legs as he sprawled dead weight across Karkat. 

Karkat didn’t complain. He loved these secret close moments they shared, even if uncertainty made him cut his eyes at the entrance of the back booth to make sure that no one could see inside. 

“You wish,” Karkat said, fake-scoffing. He couldn’t keep his hands out of Dave’s pale hair. The texture was amazing, soft as silk. “Don’t you have a job you should be doing?” He teased right back, only half-joking.

“Fuck ‘em,” Dave muttered, tilting his head upwards as Karkat leaned down to stroke his hair again.

When confronted with Dave’s lips so close to his face, Karkat did the logical thing and kissed him, tasting the sweat that had collected on his upper lip. Dave cupped the back of his neck and help him in place as he ravished Karkat’s lips with rabid attention.

Karkat laughed as he broke away, breathless. “Nope,” he said, shaking his head. “I am not having hot sloppy make-outs with you in a booth that’s probably crawling with eight different strains of mononucleosis.”

“Aww,” Dave pouted, still fiendishly attractive as he wagged his eyebrows. “I’ve done far worse than make out in these booths before and I’ve never caught anything nasty.”

Karkat felt his face flush with color as just for a second, he imagined what Dave was referring to. Fuck, was there any remotely private place in these clubs where Dave hadn’t gotten it on with strangers?

“Incubi can’t catch or transmit STDs,” Karkat snarked, glad that his rapidly growing stash of Incubus trivia was useful for something. 

“I’ve always wondered about the brave soul who tested that theory out,” Dave commented, wondering out loud even as he sought out Karkat’s lips again. 

“May their noble sacrifice be never forgotten,” Karkat muttered, helpless to keep away from Dave when the Incubus was this unfairly attractive. His finger’s circled Dave’s hips as Karkat tugged the demon fully into his lap, laying down so that the velvety cushions pressed into his shoulder blades. 

Dave made a low noise in his throat when Karkat drug him on top, kissing deeper without breaking free of Karkat’s slightly possessive grip. The brief, delicious slide of skin on skin drove Karkat crazy as he quickly loosened the buttons on Dave’s blazer. 

“What about those eight strains of mononucleosis?” Dave gasped out, moving with him with a skill that Karkat could never quite match.

“Fuck ‘em,” Karkat grunted, throwing his leg up and over Dave’s lower back to grind up into him with every layer of clothing still between them. “It’s not like I’m planning on anything _indecent_.” His voice was a sultry hiss, breathless as he chased that feeling of flames that followed each shallow buck of his hips. 

“You’re going to be the death of me,” Dave muttered, eagerly folding himself into Karkat’s grip with a grin. Karkat caught the flash of the demon’s white teeth in the darkness above him and it stoked the fire in him. Karkat continued to grind up against Dave and pant against him until the beeping of Dave’s wristwatch interrupted him.

“What the fuck is that?” Karkat asked, feeling lightheaded. 

Dave groaned, and let his head drop down onto Karkat’s chest. “It’s my five minute alert,” he sighed. “My break’s up.”

“No,” Karkat complained, tightening his grip. “Not yet it’s not.”

“Babe,” Dave said, still breathless as he kissed him sweetly. “I’ll be back when my next set is done.”

“I might not wait for you,” Karkat warned. “I don’t think I can stretch out what’s left of my homework for that long.”

“Damn,” Dave sighed, his voice low as he traced his fingers down the curve of Karkat’s jawline. “You would leave me like that?”

“Of course not,” Karkat promised, kissing him again before swatting at him. “Now get off me, you fucking hypocrite. You have work still.”

Dave kissed him one more time before rolling off of him. The loss of his body heat left Karkat feeling cold as Dave dipped out of the private booth with a wink and a smirk, kissing the blue glow stick around his neck a he left because the demon was a hopeless romantic. 

Karkat rolled his eyes at his dorky boyfriend, his collar still rumpled as he popped the shoulders of his blazer straight again in a smooth, practiced movement that might have been the hottest thing Dave had done all night. It was like a reverse strip tease as he watched Dave comb his fingers through his white hair to straighten it back out, making sure he looked put-together before leaving for the stage again.

Karkat sighed and grabbed his laptop again, already awaiting when Dave’s next set would be done. He wasn’t sure why, but the thought of Dave was imprinted in this club and all of the others like it. Dave had been frequenting this place for years, DJing, playing the rooms, and…and hooking up with as many people as physically possible. 

The other people Dave had slept with before him didn’t normally bother Karkat, but in Club Prospit the sheer number of them overwhelmed Karkat. Dave must have so many memories of places and times like this, so many that Karkat felt outnumbered and overshadowed. He felt this need to reclaim these places for them, to fill the shadows of the club with other memories, memories of the two of them.

With this resolve still in his mind, Karkat quickly finished up his assignment with a patient fire burning through his abdomen. He’d just set his laptop away when the curtains that covered the front of the booth shifted.

Karkat picked his head up, his heart beating faster for a second until he saw that it wasn’t Dave. It was some redheaded guy that smelled like the cheapest beer the bar kept on tap as he sauntered into the booth to stare at Karkat.

“What the fuck do you want?” Karkat asked, feeling unsettled. “This is a private booth.”

“I saw the DJ leave this booth,” the guy said, leering at him in a way that made Karkat’s skin prickle. “Strider, you know him?”

“What’s it to you?” Karkat demanded, red flags waving in the back of his mind with warning.

“See,” the guy said, smiling like they were friends as he heavily sat down across form Karkat. “I saw something, you know? About Strider.”

Karkat didn’t respond. He didn’t even breathe. 

“See,” the guy said again, still smiling. “I’ve been wonderin’ bout him. He wear those shades all the time?”

“Get out,” Karkat demanded. He didn’t care who this guy was- He wanted him gone. Now. 

“Naw,” the guy said, grinning like he knew something Karkat didn’t. “See, Karkat, I just wanted to talk.”

Karkat’s heart jumped into overdrive. “How the fuck do you know my name?” He asked, feeling weak in the knees. 

The guy was still grinning as he answered. “Your face was on the magazine,” he said. “Now I’m not much one for those lie-filled things, but I thought I recognized Strider’s head next to yours. Not many have hair that recognizable,” he said, chuckling to himself. “Paper called him a demon, is that so? I’ve always wondered about the rumors myself, so I did some digging into Daemon kind with white hair that likes to hide their eyes.”

Karkat couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t feel his heart beating.

“See,” the guy says again, and Karkat wanted to strangle him on the spot. “I think I got him nailed now,” he said, truly laughing in an ugly way as he slapped his knee. “You fuckin’ him?” The guy asked, leering, leaning closer. “Is it good? They say Incubi are the best lays.”

“Get out,” Karkat said again as the music swelled from outside, suddenly furious and scared. He knew. This guy _knew_. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Karkat lied. He wasn’t going to give anything away, ever. And certainly not to drunken guys that invaded his private booth during Dave’s performance. 

“I think you do,” the guy said, and suddenly he wasn’t smiling anymore. “Where do you get off in fucking something that ain’t human?” The man turned and spit at the corner, warding off evil spirits. 

The words made Karkat’s blood run cold. He was so scared that not even his fury could keep the chill out his veins. All he could remember was Dave telling him that people could be after his head.

“What me and my boyfriend do is none of your business,” Karkat spat hatefully. “Where do you get off in creeping into private booths like some kind of sociopath to accuse DJs of being demons?”

The man laughed like a rooster crowing. He choked a little at the end, coughing as he snapped his fingers. 

Karkat felt his body stiffen the instant he recognized the off-white sparks dance off the man’s hands. Fuck.

The psychic easily closed the curtains without moving from his seat, plunging the room into darkness. Karkat could hear his pulse beating in his ears as he breathed through his mouth. “What game are you playing?” Karkat demanded, refusing to give in. 

“I just want to know the name of your little demon,” the man said, his face hidden in the shadows. “That’s all I want from you.” He didn’t sound drunk anymore. He sounded frighteningly competent and alert as Karkat felt a psychic finger touch him right above his Adam’s apple, the pressure just enough to be painful when he swallowed. 

“Fuck you,” Karkat said, his voice shaking. He refused to be threatened. 

“The name,” the man repeated, his voice hard and unflinching. “Then I’ll let you go.”

The mental push on his throat grew stronger, on the verge of cutting off his air as Karkat sneered. “You’re on of St. Josephs men, aren’t you?” He asked, guessing. The man didn’t respond, so Karkat pushed harder. “You know, St. Josheph, father of the Christ and the saint of mankind. The saint that fanaticals warped out of all recognition to try and wipe demons from the face of the earth with? Those insane fanaticals? Does that ring your fucking bell?”

“I expected more from a preacher’s son,” the man sneered right back at him. “You know what the church thinks of Daemon kind.”

“The Church speaks about selfless love for all,” Karkat defended breathlessly, his tongue pressed tightly against his teeth as the pressure on his throat increased. “You don’t fucking scare me,” Karkat said right as his breath was choked off. He heard the roar of applause from outside, the music silent for a moment before the automatic filler tracks kicked in. 

Stalling, Karkat kept the man talking with the little air he had left. “Go threaten someone else,” Karkat said, choking. “I don’t have anything… to say to you. Freak.”

“Mankind will inherit this world, that’s the one thing they got right,” the man said, nodding to himself. “St. Josheph’s men get that. I’m just here for the name- no religion involved. I don’t give a shit about the church.”

“Then what do you want? Fuck-” Karkat gasped hoarsely, his head pounding. It felt like a wire was wrapped around his throat so tight that he couldn’t breathe.

“The Incubi’s name!” The man snarled, standing up. “Now!”

“Fuck you,” Karkat spat weakly, seeing spots dance before his eyes as his legs kicked uselessly. The man took a step closer as Karkat choked, reaching into his pocket.

Knife? Phone? Gun? Whatever he was reaching for probably wasn’t good. Karkat prepared himself, acutely aware of the danger he was in. 

The curtain ripped itself open. The snarl that filled the room was the furthest thing from human Karkat had ever heard, and he grew up with two vampires for sisters. Dave stood in the doorway, his shoulders ridged. “Who the fuck are you?” He demanded coldly. His shaded eyes swept over the scene as Karkat felt the pressure release off his throat as he gasped in a breath that had him coughing painfully, his hands at his neck. 

In the half-light there was nothing human about Dave’s face. Even with his eyes covered the malice bled off him. “Get out,” Dave demanded, and the man cowered down. He slunk low to the ground past the furious demon, cowed, then fled the booth as Dave lunged for Karkat. 

Karkat gasped, his head rolling as he threw himself into Dave’s arms, still coughing as Dave’s hot fingers traced the forming bruise around his throat. 

“Karkat?” Dave asked, sounding scared. 

“I didn’t tell h’m anythin,” Karkat forced out through his battered throat. 

“That doesn’t matter,” Dave said, hugging him. “Are you hurt?”

“Only my neck,” Karkat said, wheezing. “He’s a psychic.”

“He’s a fool if he thinks that’s going to keep him safe from me,” Dave said, and the demon growled softly. 

Karkat had heard large dogs growl before. He’d had heard his sisters growl before over who got the last cookie when they were kids, but this was a different sound that dug itself into his bones with visceral fear. He vibrated with the noise. “Dave,” Karkat said, still rubbing at his throat. “Let’s just go.”

They both knew that making a scene would be the opposite of useful. The less eyes noticed them, the better. 

“Okay,” Dave agreed, helping him up. 

Karkat grabbed his laptop and his bag and limped to the door of the booth, Dave a half step behind him. “He said he wasn’t with the Church,” Karkat told Dave. “That’s all I got out of him. He knows.”

“What did he want?”

“He kept asking for your name,” Karkat admitted. 

Dave held the curtain aside for him, and from their vantage point Karkat could see his attacker talking down on the floor with the stage manager, who looked dead at them as Dave froze at his side. For a second Karkat thought something would happen- an exchange of words or fists maybe, but Dave shrugged and kept walking. 

“I should press charges for assault,” Karkat muttered, and Dave squeezed at his side. The demon said nothing as they left the club. “Dave,” Karkat said, concerned. “What about your job?”

“Fuck it,” Dave said, checking behind them to make sure they weren’t followed. “I think that our new friend was telling my boss I’m Daemon kind so I’m as good as fired anyway. Prospit doesn’t keep demons on staff.”

“What?” Karkat said, angry and upset. 

“Let’s get out of here,” Dave said, his hands shaking. “We’re lucky he was only a psychic and not a magician, otherwise there might have been a fight.”

“Did you recognize him?” Karkat asked curiously, still afraid of what the man represented.

“No,” Dave said, his voice blank. “But if he asked for my name, he knows.”

God, Karkat should have taken Dave's incessant caution seriously. Maybe then nothing would have happened. “Dave,” Karkat said, pleading, a hundred different questions on the tip of his tongue. 

“Not right now,” Dave said, his voice tight. “Just… not right now.”

Karkat swallowed and felt the motion irritate the inflamed tissue that encircled his neck. “Come back to my house,” Karkat told him. “I don’t want you to be alone tonight.”

The Incubus looked like he would refuse, so Karkat grabbed at his hand with shaking fingers. “Please.”

Dave dipped down to press a quick kiss on the top of Karkat’s head. “Okay,” he relented. “I’ll follow you home.”

Dave kept an eye on the sidewalk behind them the entire time as Karkat hailed a cab. They took the long way back to Karkat’s apartment, taking twisting side streets as Dave acted like he had no idea where Karkat’s apartment was as he gave the cabbie fraudulent directions to ensure a twisted, roundabout way home.

Karkat let Dave indulge his paranoid- tonight it was well founded. 

Once they were inside of Karkat’s apartment, he locked the door behind them. Dave crossed over to the couch and sat with his head in his hands. 

Karkat walked over and sat beside him. “Hey,” he said softly, not quite daring to touch him.

Dave looked up and frowned. “How’s your throat?” he asked, concerned and saddened by the sight of the still-growing bruises. 

Karkat rubbed at the marks. “I’m fine,” he said. “I’ve dealt with worse than him before.”

“This is my fault,” Dave decided, still frowning. “I did something wrong. I must have slipped up somehow if they found me.”

Karkat’s heart gave a painful squeeze. “Actually,” He admitted slowly. “Porrim texted me yesterday about a magazine that had a picture of us together. The article they ran was about our “scandalous’ human-demon relationship. I didn’t read the whole thing, just the introduction.”

“What?” Dave said, surprised. He sounded hurt and betrayed. 

“I was going to tell you in the morning,” Karkat said desperately. “The article was nothing but bullshit- there was nothing true in it.”

“But they posted my picture,” Dave said, just to make sure. 

“It was only the back of your head,” Karkat told him. “No one should have been able to recognize you from just that.”

“Except for the people who are looking,” Dave said, shuddering. “God, it they find me…”

“They won’t find you,” Karkat comforted him reassuringly. 

Dave slid his shades off to wipe at his eyes. His eyes were shocking twin scarlet flames in his pale face. “You don’t understand,” he said. “What I did was unforgivable. They’ll never stop hunting for me.”

“How long has it been?” Karkat asked, knowing that he couldn’t ask the questions that he really wanted to. 

“Five years,” Dave answered unwillingly. “It’s been five years since I ran away.”

“Will you tell me more?” Karkat asked. 

“No,” Dave said, not looking at him with his eyes bare. “Not tonight.”

Karkat respected Dave’s decision enough not to push him. He’d find it out later. “Okay,” Karkat said. It was very late now, nearing four am, and he could feel exhaustion creeping in now that his adrenaline rush was wearing off. 

“Let me see,” Dave asked, and Karkat obediently tiled his chin up to bare the mark left around his throat.

Dave sucked in his breath in a tight sound, a near-hiss. Karkat was reminded of the snarl he’d heard. He’d never heard a sound like that before, and he couldn’t imagine it coming from Dave. 

The Incubus softly ran his finger across the mark, light enough that the touch was painless on the tender skin. His eyes were still bare, his shades held in his other hand. Karkat had never seen his eyes for so long before. They were heartbreakingly beautiful, and the demon was upset enough that they didn’t draw in Karkat’s gaze like the seductive magnets they were. Right now they were just red eyes, nothing more.

Karkat lightly moved Dave’s hands so that they were laced behind his neck. “Stay,” he asked. “You can sleep here tonight. There’s plenty of room in my bed.”

There was a flicker on interest from Dave’s eyes, but the spark died quickly. “Thank you,” he said. “Are you tired now?”

“Come on,” Karkat said, tugging Dave behind him. “Being awake isn’t going to help you. We can talk more in the morning.”

Dave let himself be led to bed. Karkat gave him an old shirt and some shorts to sleep in, one that was large enough to swallow Dave’s smaller frame and make him extra cozy. The demon took revenge by pressing his cold toes against Karkat’s leg as he slipped under the blankets. Karkat squeaked in indignation as he recoiled from the touch. 

Dave snickered to himself before Karkat rolled back into him, holding him close as he pressed his cheek against the demon’s back until he heard his heart beating. It was such a comforting sound. “Goodnight, Dave.” Karkat said. 

“Night, Karkat,” Dave said, yawning. 

“I’ll let you sleep in in the morning,” Karkat said, also yawning as he snuggled deeper into his boyfriend’s side. 

Dave turned to press the lightest of good night kisses to his forehead, and Karkat closed his tired eyes and let the night have him with a thousand doubts and fears running through his head. He didn’t know what the morning would bring, but he had Dave at his side. Karkat would think of something. He had to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OHHHHH WE'RE GETTING INTO THE PLOT NOW BOI


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> boo yeah next chapter is up

Dave wasn’t beside him when Karkat woke, and for an instant an irrational fear flooded Karkat. The feeling had a strength behind it sharpened by last night’s experience in a dark club booth. His neck was still sore and it hurt to swallow.

Karkat hopped out of bed to find Dave in the kitchen, up too early in the morning to be normal for the demon as Dave rummaged through the cupboards for food like a bear fresh out of hibernation. “Hey,” Karkat said, sliding onto an open barstool to watch his boyfriend. “You’re up early.”

“I couldn’t sleep,” Dave admitted, emerging from the cupboard with a box of cereal and a Poptart. His shades were tucked into the neck of the loose shirt Karkat had given him and his eyes were bare for the briefest instant. As soon had the demon’s hands were free he quickly set the dark sunglasses back over his eyes.

Selfishly, because Karkat was a selfish person wasn’t he, Karkat wished that Dave had the trust between them to keep his eyes bare. What had happened last night was 100% Karkat’s fault, because he’d been selfish enough to hold off on telling Dave about the magazine photo, wanting one more night of peace between them before it all went to hell even though he knew that Dave deserved the truth from him sooner. Karkat wished that he and Dave could sit here in his small kitchen forever and pretend that everything was okay, but even with his pupils covered Karkat could still tell that Dave was staring at his bruised throat. 

Karkat realized that guilt was a thing with teeth. It gnawed. 

“How are you doing?” Dave asked, and the teeth dug in deeper. 

“I’m fine,” Karkat answered. “It’s you I’m worried about.”

Dave looked like he hadn’t been sleeping for days rather than just one night. His shoulders were tense and ridged. There was a tremor in his hands as he poured the milk into his cereal. 

“Nah,” Dave said, shrugging in a tight way that did nothing to ease Karkat’s worry. He kept his words short and non-descriptive. “I’ll be fine.”

“Dave,” Karkat said, concerned. “Please talk to me.”

Dave got up to put the milk back in the fridge. He took his time doing it, hesitating at the door to the fridge like he was procrastinating turning back around. Karkat’s heart hurt. 

“I got a call earlier from Club Prospit,” Dave said hesitantly, fiddling with the open door to the refrigerator. “They fired me.” He closed the door. The whisper of it drifting shut was the loudest sound in the room as Dave said, “They explained in no uncertain terms how I’m not welcome back onto the premises.”

“Dave,” Karkat said gently, heartbroken. “They can’t blackmail you for being a demon, can they?” He wondered. There were laws protecting discrimination against Daemon kind in the workplace, laws that were under-enforced and rarely made it into court. Then there was the fact to consider that Dave physically couldn’t afford to make a scene right now, and Karkat knew that Prospit could do whatever the fuck it wanted and get away with it. 

“They can, and they did,” Dave answered bleakly, rubbing at his eyes under his shades. “I’m still DJing for a few other places, but damn, losing Prospit is going to hurt.”

Karkat didn’t ask what might happen if the other clubs got ahold of the knowledge that Dave was Daemon kind, but Dave spoke anyway, his voice careless. “I know Derse won’t give a shit if I’m a demon,” he said, shrugging. “That, and they’ve held me on staff for years. That club was practically my first home. LOHAC will probably keep me as well; their stageboss is Fae, but the other clubs? The Aimless Renegade will dump me on my ass for violating their anti-Daemon policies, same with the Peregrine Mendicant. The Vagabond might let me stay though, and if I pick double shifts at those three clubs I might be able to make rent.”

It was official; this was all Karkat’s fault. 

“Here,” Karkat said, bringing up the chatlog with Porrim. “This is what my sister sent me.” He spun the screen around to face Dave, the headline screaming “DEMON IN THE CHURCH!” He watched Dave’s face as he read it, the Incubi’s face unmoving. 

When Dave was done scanning over the words, he looked up and frowned. “You’re right,” he said. “This article is 100% bullshit. Does anyone even read these things anymore?”

Karkat recognized the brush-off for what it was. “Dave,” he said gently. “They have your picture.”

“But not my name,” he reminded Karkat. “Shit, I don’t even have that. I’m just Dave. Plain old Dave.”

It sparked a realization in Karkat, one seeped in sadness. “Do you think you’ll ever get your last name back?” Karkat asked curiously. He kept quiet about the why- there would be time for that later.

It seemed an innocent enough question, but Dave snorted, nearly chuckling. “Nope,” The demon answered. “Because I remember how I lost it. I gave the memory of my last name to a Serket demon, a different one than the bitch that C- someone, kept on his staff.” Dave stuttered around his secrets for an instant before he picked up his story again. “Once you give those memories up- they’ve gone forever.”

“Then why’d you do it?” Karkat asked, confused. 

“Demons feed on humans,” Dave told him, shrugging. “Have you ever seen a hungry demon before, of any kind?”

“No,” Karkat answered truthfully. He’d seen plenty of hungry demons, but none of them had been starved to the kind of hunger Dave asked about. Not a demon black-eyed with hunger stains, a withered thing driven right mad out of any higher thought process that wasn’t feeding. 

“I have,” Dave said, his voice quiet. “They kept us starved there, where we were. Some of us died from it, the most horrible way to die you can imagine. The Serket demon, she was next, you see,” Dave said, staring at him. “I felt like I could look into her eyes and see the back of her skull. Demons, in rare cases, can feed off other demons if the species match is right. When it came down to it, she needed my name more than I did. It saved her life.”

“Names have power,” Dave said. “What you value the most has more weight behind it,” Dave said, tapping his temple. “Memories work the same way.”

“Jesus Christ,” Karkat said, hugging Dave. He embraced the demon tightly, not wanting to let go as he buried his face against Dave’s chest. 

Healing was a peculiar thing. Karkat had never held stock with those who believed that healing was found in one other person, even for all of his romantic notions and hours spent watching the trope unfold on the screen or in his books. He knew that things just didn’t work like that in real life.

Healing was a process. It took time and willpower and a safe place to recover. It took grief and crying and recovery, thousands of hours to remove the hurt from oneself and then move on. Healing took a community, a family, a church. Even with all of this knowledge of relationships and healing, there was one thing that Karkat feared. 

He feared that he wouldn’t be enough to heal the Incubus. The fear was in Dave’s scars, the ravines in his thighs like cracks in dry mud that still had Dave flinching away if Karkat accidentally brushed against them. The fear spoke in the way Dave hid his eyes and never raised his voice. It whispered in the quiet way the Incubus always sat with his back to a wall even when it was just the two of them in an empty room. 

It was the fear of all the things that Karkat still didn’t fucking know about his boyfriend. Wasn’t that a thing, fear found in not-knowing?

It was like there were three people living in this relationship; Karkat, Dave, and Dave’s past. Karkat feared that he wouldn’t be enough, that Dave’s shadowy past would overwhelm all of the good he brought into the demon’s life to wipe out the progress made by the sins of a single mistake that ended up splashed across the front page of a newspaper. 

To lessen the fear that crept up the back of Karkat’s throat to choke him, he gave it a name and a voice as he said, truthfully and without a hint of resentment, “There’s so much about you I still don’t know.”

“It’s okay,” Dave said, hugging him back. He didn’t say that he would tell Karkat his secrets or promise to reveal anything, he simply acknowledged the truth that sat between them. 

For the first time, it wasn’t enough. 

“No, it’s not,” Karkat said, his voice muffled. He breathed in the smell of the demon, the citrus and sandalwood of the soap he used covered up just a hint of something deeper and smoky. “I’m sorry,” he sniffled. “This shouldn’t be about me. What can I do to help?”

“Nothing,” Dave promised as Karkat’s heart fell. He caught the crestfallen look and Karkat’s face and quickly amended his statement. “You’re helping enough just by being here.”

“But I should have told you sooner,” Karkat said, his throat sore. His lip trembled. 

“And what would that have changed?” Dave asked gently, prying himself free of Karkat’s clingy embrace. “I still would have gone to work last night. That man would have still been there. I still would have gotten fired.”

“But-”

“No,” Dave kissed him, just a peck to break the flow of words out of Karkat’s mouth. “This is a complicated situation. You did nothing wrong. This wasn’t your fault.”

But it was, couldn’t Dave see that? “And if it was?” Karkat challenged, his eyes full of unshed tears as he looked up at the demon. 

“If it was,” Dave said, his voice grave as Karkat braced himself for the worst. “Then I forgive you.”

… What?

Dave couldn’t mean that, could he? Terezi had damned Karkat over lesser offenses than this, surely there had to be some kind of consequence?

Karkat wordlessly kissed him back, grasping at Dave’s shoulders as he tasted Dave’s lips. 

“Goddamn,” Dave said, kissing back. “Yes, less of the crying and more of that, please.”

Karkat nearly laughed even as he wiped his tears away with his sleeve. Dave was so ridiculous sometimes. The demon opened his mouth and God knows what useless, unhelpful shit could pour out to assault Karkat’s ears.

He loved it.

His heart shivered inside him with joy at the idea of being so utterly cared for that his mistakes would be forgiven without judgement. Karkat didn’t complain as they kissed away the morning, each touch blending smoothly into the other as the sun rose around them.  
…

Karkat spend the afternoon working on his classwork and bothering Kanaya while Dave caught up on his sleep on the couch. Karkat had tried to get him to sleep in his bed but Dave had stubbornly taken the couch, claiming that he felt better sleeping closer to Karkat.

That had shut him right the hell up as Karkat sputtered, his face flushing crimson. 

carcinoGeneticist (CG) began Pestering  grimAuxillatrix (GA) at 4:13 pm!

CG: HEY, KANAYA.  
CG: HAVE YOU HEARD FROM KANKRI LATELY?  
GA: Now That You Mention It, I Have Not In recent Memory. I Believe The Last Time We Spoke Through Chatlogs Was Last Week, Though We’ve Met face To Face A Few Times During That Span.  
GA: Why? Has He Been Ignoring You Again?  
CG: I THINK HE HAS, THE SHITHEAD. HE WON’T EVEN OPEN MY MESSAGES.  
CG: HE LEFT ME ON FUCKED READ, KANAYA. THIS MEANS WAR.  
GA: Are You Sure This Silence Is Intentional? He Might Not Have Anything To Say.  
GA: Hold On, Porrim is Calling Me. I Will Return Shortly.

grimAuxillatrix (GA) has become an idle chum!

Karkat huffed and shot another message at Kankri. 

carcinoGeneticist (CG) began Pestering crypticGuru(CG) at 4:16pm!

CG: COWARD.

grimAuxillatrix (GA) began Pestering carcinoGeneticist (CG) at 4:16 pm!

GA: I Really Don’t Think That He’s Intentionally Ignoring You.  
GA: Unless He Has Done Something Else That I Am Yet Unaware Of To Raise Your Ire, Which Is Likely Knowing The Two Of You And Your Unknowable Urge To Fight Like Cats And Dogs.  
CG: NO, AND THAT’S THE WEIRD THING. HE HASN’T DONE ANYTHING TO PISS ME OFF SINCE THAT THING WITH DAVE, WHICH HE APOLOGIZED FOR.  
CG: OF COURSE I’M STILL PISSED AT HIM FOR THAT AND I WILL REMAIN PISSED AT HIM INDEFINITELY. BUT THE RADIO SILENCE SEEMS A BIT UNCALLED FOR, AND ITS JUST FUCKING PETTY.  
CG: HE’S ACTING LIKE A CHILD.  
GA: I Think That You Both Are Acting Like Children. Don’t You Think That He’s Simply Waiting For You To Cool Down Before Initiating Civil Conversation Again?  
CG: MAYBE? I’M NOT SURE.  
CG: ANYWAY, WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO?  
GA: I’ve Been Hanging Out With Jane And Roxy, Shopping And Other Such Girlie Endeavors.  
GA: It‘s Quite Fun Honestly. I Found A New Clothing Shop That Carries Some Beautiful Fabric Selections That You Simply Must See- I Will Send You Some Examples In A Minute So That You May Gush Appropriately Over Them And Their Elegance.  
CG: GOD NO I'M NOT ONE OF YOUR GIRL FRIENDS CAN’T YOU BOTHER JANE ABOUT THIS?  
GA: No, As They Were There When I Purchased The Fabrics They Have Already Had Time To Form An Opinion On Them. I Need Your Fresh Eyes.  
CG: FINE, YOU CAN SEND THEM OVER. I’ll TAKE A LOOK, BUT NO PROMISES THAT I’LL HAVE ANYTHING NICE TO SAY ABOUT THEM.  
GA: I Would Not Have Expected Any Different. I Will Send Them Shortly.  
CG: OKAY WHAT THE FUCK? NOW PORRIM’S MESSAGING ME GOTTA GO.  
CG: I’LL TRY TO GET A HOLD OF BOTH YOU AND KANKRI LATER, THANKS FOR TALKING WITH ME.  
GA: I Will Expect An Immediate Pester Notice Once You Have Had The Time To Collect Your Thoughts About The Selections I’ll Send You- They’re For A School Project And It’s Important That I Get Them Right.  
CG: OKAY I WILL, I PROMISE. 

carcinoGeneticist (CG) had become an idle chum!

Karkat switched over to the chat his older sister had opened.

gladiatorsAdvocate (GA) began Pestering carcinoGeneticist (CG) at 4:22 pm!

gladiatorsAdvocate (GA) has blocked carcinoGeneticist (CG) from responding to the memo!

GA: Karkat.  
GA: Don’t speak, just listen. I don’t have long.  
GA: With recent events, I find it obvious that your boyfriend is of currently unknown Daemon status and wishes desperately to remain so. Forgive me for cutting the bullshit to come out and say it, but time is short.  
GA: Congress is pushing for a new law that will require every Daemon in the state to be registered at their local level to help assist rescue workers and ensure that law enforcement officers can do their jobs more efficiently.  
GA: It is most definitely because of the shooting. Its straight up fear tactics and the worst part is that they’ve used my Vampire Blood Drive and its successful registration as precedent.  
GA: I’m aware that this would spell disaster for all of Daemon kind. Dad, Kankri, and I are currently fighting for the lives of the city’s demon population, but they’ve already passed it onto the state level.  
GA: It’s going to come down to a public vote.  
GA: I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry that I couldn’t stop this. There’s a gag order on the law and I could lose my job over telling you this, but I thought that Dave should have some warning to get away.  
GA: If I’ve guessed correctly, this order could place him in serious danger. Please.  
GA: You have one hour to show him this message from me as proof, then Sollux will scrub all trace of it from both of our computers. It’s for the best.  
GA: I’ve got to go, my break is ending. I’ll try to touch base with you tomorrow.  
GA: DO NOT TELL ANYONE ELSE WHAT I TOLD YOU!-- Porrim Maryam-Vantas 

Karkat watched in disbelief as Porrim’s jade icon went gray as she logged off. He quickly scanned the words again, just to make sure they hadn’t changed. His gaze shifted to the sleeping demon on his couch as Karkat gnawed his bottom lip with stress. 

He had to tell Dave. Karkat had learned his lesson about waiting. 

He walked over to the couch. Dave was sleeping peacefully. This wasn’t the light napping that the Incubus stole when he first started sleeping over at Karkat’s apartment, always on the edge of waking up at the first hint of trouble- Dave really was asleep this time. Karkat was loathe to wake him, but the timeline and threat from Sollux forced his hand.

“Dave,” Karkat fake-whispered, his voice falsely cheery. “Can you wake up a minute?”

Dave grunted and rolled over without opening his eyes. “Five more minutes.” His shades were safely on the coffee table and he mumbled without opening his eyes. 

“Dave,” Karkat tried again, his voice serious. 

There must have been something in his tone, because Dave’s eyes snapped open. “What is it?” He asked, already reaching for his sunglasses. 

“Porrim sent me something,” Karkat admitted, his heart pounding as he handed Dave his laptop. “You need to see it.”

He waited as Dave rubbed the sleep from his eyes and pulled the screen closer. Again, his face didn’t change in the slightest, but Karkat could see that his shoulders had gone tense. “The human public far outnumber Daemon kind,” Dave said after a moment of silent consideration. “The vote will go through.”

“What will we do?” Karkat asked, his voice trembling. 

Dave shrugged. “The news that I’m some demon will spread like fire,” Dave said, softly. “I won’t be able to dodge the draft and be unregistered. They’ll find out where I fucking live.”

“What happens then?” Karkat asked, tense. The fear was back, fear of the past coming forward to knock and destroy all of the healing Dave had so far managed to do on his own. 

“I’d almost shrug it off if it wasn’t for that man in the club,” Dave said. “They’ll know where I am.”

“And?” Karkat asked, pushing. 

Dave shrugged again. “They’ll try to kill me,” he said, like that was a normal fucking response that was in some way resembling an acceptable answer. 

“WHAT,” Karkat said sharply. 

Dave pulled him down onto the sofa, the laptop falling to the side. “Don’t worry about it,” Dave told him. “Stay. Don’t let it get to you. They’ve been trying to kill me for years and they haven’t gotten me yet.”

Karkat almost questioned that, almost. “But now they know you worked at Prospit,” Karkat said, distressed. “It’s not that hard to guess what other clubs you might be working for.”

“I’ll be fine,” Dave waved away his concerns, nuzzling at Karkat’s neck as he slipped his shades back onto the table and closed his eyes. The Incubus yawned. “If anything, we can talk about it tomorrow. You’ve got class this afternoon and I’m working doubles at Derse tonight. We can figure something out then.”

Karkat wanted to argue, but Dave was warm and sleepy and determined to put this off till later, so Karkat set his computer aside for Sollux to presumably hack into and settled in beside his boyfriend. 

Dave went back to sleep, but it was the light sleep this time. All of his peace was gone.

Karkat couldn’t wait for tomorrow to come and make things better.  
…

Karkat’s afternoon classes sucked. He couldn’t pay attention and every little thing irritated him. A random student kept clicking his pen against the desk and Karkat glared at him until he stopped the noise.  
Instead of focusing on his work, Karkat kept pestering Kankri. 

carcinoGeneticist (CG) began Pestering crypticGuru (CG) at 3:45pm!

CG: KANKRI.  
CG: I KNOW THAT YOU’VE BEEN EXTREMELY BUSY LATELY WITH PORRIM AND HER CAMPAIGN, SO I’M EXTENDING THE CAUTIOUS HAND OF FORGIVENESS FOR YOU IGNORING ME FOR A WEEK STRAIGHT.  
CG: LOOK AT THAT, I’M ACTUALLY MAKING A FUCKING EFFORT TO NOT BE FURIOUS AT YOU, BECAUSE I’M SUCH A GOOD FUCKING PERSON THAT SUCH ACTS OF CHARITY COME NATURALLY TO ME.  
CG: OKAY WE BOTH KNOW I PULLED THAT OUT OF MY ASS BUT THE SENTIMENT BEHIND IT WAS CLEAR. I’M TRYING TO FORGIVE YOU FOR THE DAVE THING, BUT I ALREADY HAVE FORGIVEN YOU FOR THE IGNORING ME THING. KANAYA TOLD ME IT MIGHT BE BECAUSE YOU JUST HAVE NOTHING TO SAY?  
CG: IF THAT’S TRUE THEN I CAN’T REALLY FAULT YOU FOR THE RADIO SILENCE.  
CG: AND I KNOW HOW BUSY YOU ARE WITH HELPING DAD AND PORRIM. I KNOW THAT CERTAIN THINGS ARE HAPPENING. I KNOW THAT YOU’RE DOING YOUR ABSOLUTE BEST TO FIGHT THEM. AND I KNOW THAT YOU REALLY WOULDN’T IGNORE ME LIKE THIS UNLESS YOU HAD, AND I’LL DENY THIS IF YOU TELL ANYONE I SAID THIS, A REALLY FUCKING GOOD REASON.  
CG: BECAUSE YOU'RE MY BROTHER, AND I LOVE YOU.  
CG: EVEN WHEN MOST OF THE TIME I WANT NOTHING MORE THAN TO WRAP MY HANDS AROUND YOUR PUTRID THROAT AND WATCH THE LIGHT LEAVE YOUR SMALL, PIGGISH EYES. OKAY, I’M GETTING OFF TOPIC NOW…  
CG: ANYWAY…  
CG: JUST, JUST MESSAGE ME BACK WHEN YOU CAN. I DON’T REALLY HAVE ANYTHING IMPORTANT TO SAY BACK, BUT I DON’T THINK IVE EVER GONE THIS LONG WITHOUT TALKING TO YOU BEFORE AND ITS JUST FUCKING WEIRD OKAY? ITS WEIRD AND I DON’T LIKE HOW IT FEELS.

crypticGuru (CG) has entered the conversation!

CG: Aren’t you in class right now?  
CG: OMFG.  
CG: ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW? A WEEK OF FUCKING SILENCE AND THE FIRST THING OUT OF YOUR MOUTH IS ‘AREN’T YOU IN CLASS RIGHT NOW’. INCREDIBLE. WAY TO RUIN MY HEARTFELT CONFESSIONS. HOLD ON A SECOND WHILE I GO DELETE EVERYTHING I JUST FUCKING SAID ABOUT YOU.  
CG: Too late, there is no deleting what’s been said. Besides, I already read it.  
CG: MERCIFUL GOD, KILL ME NOW.  
CG: I TAKE IT BACK. YOU’RE A HORRIBLE FUCKING PERSON AND YOU DON’T DESERVE MY APOLOGIES.  
CG: Language, brother dearest. You sound like a drunken sailor. It’s unseemly and unbefitting of someone of your education level.  
CG: FUCK! FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
CG: WHY DO YOU ALWAYS DO THIS?  
CG: Do what?  
CG: YOU ACT LIKE YOU’RE SO FUCKING SUPERIOR TO ME AND THEN BELITTLE EVERYTHING I SAY. CAN’T YOU BE NORMAL AND JUST DISS ME LIKE ANY OTHER OLDER BROTHER WOULD?  
CG: Why would I ever do that, Karkat? Besides, I thought that you wanted to talk to me.  
CG: NO, AS USUAL YOU GOT THAT COMPLETELY 100% WRONG. I WANTED YOU TO TALK TO ME, NOT ME TO TALK TO YOU. ME TALKING TO YOU IS EMOTIONALLY DRAINING AND MAKES ME WANT TO SLAM MY HEAD AGAINST THE NEAREST MODERATELY FLAT SURFACE. IT’S LIKE I’M DOING NOTHING BUT YELLING INTO THE VOID WITH YOU.  
CG: YOU TALKING TO ME GETS SHIT DONE. I WANT TO KNOW HOW YOU’RE DOING AND WHAT YOU’RE SO FUCKING BUSY WITH. DAD HASN’T TALKED SECRETS TO ME SINCE I STARTED SCHOOL AND KANAYA DOESN’T KNOW ANYTHING EITHER.  
CG: ITS SO FUCKING FRUSTRATING!  
CG: ITS LIKE I CAN FEEL THE WEIGHT OF ALL THESE SECRETS PILING UP AROUND ME BUT THERE'S NOTHING I CAN DO ABOUT THEM EXCEPT BRACE FOR THE INEVITABLE INSTANT THAT THIS TOWER OF DECIET COMES CRASHING DOWN AROUND OUR HEADS.  
CG: Have you talked to Porrim recently?  
CG: I HAVE, AND IT WAS VERY ENLIGHTENING TO SAY THE LEAST.  
CG: Good. I thought that she might break and tell you and I believe that it’s better if you know. This gag order was not my idea, Karkat. I actually wanted you in on this.  
CG: THEN WHO FUCKING SHUT ME OUT???  
CG: Dad decided that. He thought it best to keep you, and more importantly, Dave, far away from the situation that’s unfolding. It could prove very dangerous for him if the wider population discovered he was here.  
CG: I AM STARTING TO REALIZE THAT.  
CG: WHY CAN’T PEOPLE JUST LET HIM BE?  
CG: People are still afraid of Daemons. That fear goes double, no, triple, for Incubi.  
CG: WHY IS THAT? I’VE ALWAYS WONDERED WHY THEY HAD IT SO MUCH WORSE THAN OTHER DEMONS.  
CG: You’re the one that’s dating one, shouldn’t you tell me that?  
CG: KANKRI I SWEAR TO GOD.  
CG: Okay, okay. Sheesh. Hold on.  
CG: …  
CG: You know how demons are stronger and faster than humans? Well, each daemon species is specialized to best hunt what they feed off of. For vampires that means speed and strength, for Infrit the ability to go unnoticed in crowds, plus speed and strength, etc..  
CG: Do you really not know this? It’s simple Daemonology, Karkat.  
CG: As you move up the ladder of Daemon kind, the demon types get more powerful and more rare. Vampires are the most common and they get speed, strength, and glowy skin. Fae are less common and they get speed, strength, healing, immunity to non-demon specific weapons, and an uncanny sense for danger. All in all, they’re tough and hard to kill.  
CG: The list of daemon abilities grows longer the higher up that list you move. Most of the 72 types are long extinct. Did you know there’s only 16 demon types left in the world?  
CG: In Demonology Incubi are listed as number 69. A rather apt number, don’t you think brother? There are demons above them still, but those are extinct types. Incubi are the rarest and strongest demon out there. They’re even above tricksters and you know how powerful those are.  
CG: And it’s not just that they’re strong. People have feared them since the dawn of time due to the complete level of control that they have over mankind.  
CG: CONTROL? LIKE, MIND CONTROL?  
CG: Not exactly. Tell me, has Dave ever used his eyes on you before?  
CG: NO, HE DOESN’T EVEN LIKE TO SHOW THEM TO ME.  
CG: Don’t ask him to. There’s a reason he keeps them covered and it’s not just the coloring.  
CG: Incubi can control people through direct eye contact. They can make you do anything just by asking, and that power terrifies mankind to the point where they communally decided that Incubi weren’t allowed to exist. The 15th century is filled with tales of dragon-hunts alongside Incubi beheadings, led by witches and spellcasters. By the 18th century they’d become exceedingly rare. In the world today there’s estimated to be less than a hundred left.  
CG: One was killed in upstate New York 15 years ago- the case made global news and was revealed to be a hate crime. The out roar from the demon community is the main reason we saw the reform of 2005-2010.  
CG: HOLY FUCKING SHIT.  
CG: I know. Foul language aside, I agree with you. It’s rather interesting to see the political shift that resulted from the court case that-  
CG: NO, KANKRI, SHUT UP A SECOND YOU MIGHT HAVE JUST SAID SOMETHING IMPORTANT! YOU SAID ONE WAS KILLED 15 YEARS AGO?  
CG: Yeah.  
CG: I’VE… I’VE GOT TO GO I’LL TALK TO YOU LATER! BYE KANKRI!

carcinogeneticist (CG) has become an Idle chum!

Karkat logged off of Pesterchum and pulled Google after doing some quick math in his head.

Dave had said that he was six years old when the Bad Thing had happened. He mentioned his parents being killed. If Dave really was 21, that would have been exactly 15 years ago.

If Incubi were as rare as Kankri said they were, that couldn’t be a coincidence. 

Karkat googled ‘Incubus murdered, New York, 2003.’

The hit was instantaneous. Karkat found news clippings, a wiki page, legal documents… everything. He eagerly clicked on the first non-morbid claim he could find only to see it lacking in the details that he needed. Still, the article did have some important information.

“INCUBUS KILLED IN HOME WITH SPOUSE,” the headline read. “In a suspected hate crime, a young couple were killed in their own home outside of Poukeepsie NY. Due to the graphic nature of this case, a judge ordered all details to be withheld from the media until the people responsible have been brought to justice. The coroner confirmed that one of the deceased couple is in fact an Incubus, one of the rarest of Daemon kind. This is also believed to be the motive behind that attack, as there were no signs of burglary. Critics to this claim state that…”

Karkat quickly scrolled to the bottom of the article but it made no mention of the couple having kids. Not one word about children or anything. As Karkat continued to tear through every scrap of news on the subject that he could find, he found no new details except for a public outcry against the lack of information, a repeal that was unsuccessful. The men were never caught. 

Karkat leaned back at his desk, completely zoned out of his lecture. One thing was for sure.

He had to talk to Dave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM ADVANCING THE PLOT NOW! 
> 
> PS, this story will end up having literally everyone in it, so all these cameos of characters will appear in the flesh within the nest few chapters.
> 
> and i mean it- everyone.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the wait, life is crazy guys but here's the next chapter!

Karkat raced home as soon as the bell rang. Dave wasn’t there; the demon was at his own apartment probably dead to the world until much later as the Incubus slept away the afternoon. 

Karkat couldn’t help but feel impatient as he send Dave a message, still googling information about the case. 

carcinoGeneticist (CG) began Pestering turntechGodhead (TG) at 5:12pm!

CG: I KNOW THAT YOU’RE ASLEEP AND THAT YOU’RE WORKING TONIGHT. AND ALSO I KNOW THAT YOU’VE ALREADY BEEN OVER TO MY APARTMENT TODAY, BUT CAN I COME OVER LATER?  
CG: DON’T PANIC I JUST WANT TO SEE YOU. I FOUND SOMETHING ONLINE AND WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT IT. 

Karkat logged off before Dave could respond, worrying at his lip. Karkat looked at the computer screen before him, ignoring the garish headlines splashed across old newspapers as he hunted for what he wanted.  
At last Karkat found what he was looking for- a picture of the house without any of the headlines covering it up. The photo was in black and white, a grainy news image, but the small house looked nice and cozy. The shutters were painted white and there was a black chicken on the front porch. There were flowers growing in the windowsills.

All in all the house looked normal, but the sight of it hurt Karkat’s heart like he’d been stabbed. He printed out the photo for good measure, wondering if he was right about this or not. 

Dave answered him back around seven.

turntechGodhead (TG) began Pestering carcinogeneticist (CG) at 7:05pm!

TG: woah shit is something up?  
TG: yeah you can come over- youre always welcome here  
CG: OKAY I’LL BE THERE IN A MINUTE.

Karkat took the bus over to Dave’s brownstone, the printout of the house in his back pocket. His palms were sweaty and he felt cold even though the fall night outside wasn’t a hair over crisp. 

Dave let him in with a smile that betrayed how worried he was. “Hey,” the Incubus said, clearly stressed. Karkat could read the jitter that ran through him. 

“Hey,” Karkat said back, not sure what to do next but sure that he might start crying if he said anything else. 

Dave must have picked up on the look on Karkat’s face because his hands shook before he folded them into fists to hide the movement. “What’s wrong?”

“I want to show you something,” Karkat said, sitting on the faded couch. “Tell me,” he said, unfolding the picture from his pocket and handing it to the demon. “Do you recognize this place?”

Dave stared at the photo of the house, his face impassive as he smoothened it out curiously. Then his shoulders froze. The demon turned still as a statue. “That’s my house,” Dave said, his voice incredulous. “Karkat, _that’s my house_.”

Dave turned to him, overjoyed because he didn’t get it. He laughed, holding the picture close to his chest. “Where did you find this?” Dave asked, still staring at the photo with reverence. God, he was smiling.

Karkat for once didn’t know what to say. He stuck with the truth. “The house appeared when I googled homicide cases from 15 years ago that involved an Incubus,” Karkat said quietly, as gentle as he could. “Dave, I think I found your parents.”

“You… you found them?” Dave said blankly, the joy on his face dying as he stared at the picture in his hands. The realization of what Karkat meant sank in slowly but when it did it hit with the weight of an earthquake behind it. Dave staggered in place like he’d been struck. “Oh God, you found them.” Dave always looked pale but now he looked sick.

“I found them,” Karkat answered, his eyes watering. 

Dave stared at the picture and wiped at his reddened eyes underneath his shades. “Why?”

The question tore at Karkat. “I was hoping to find your name for you,” he admitted as Dave sat heavily beside him, his shoulders shaking. “But all of the records are sealed. There’s no information on them.”

“Did… did you see anything written about…” Dave trailed off, his breath catching in his throat.

“No,” Karkat answered, embracing him. The painted crows on the walls watched him with beady eyes, the one that sat perched in a bed of roses reflected endlessly in the jars that took up the far wall around where an air conditioning unit lodged itself in the only window. “There was no mention of children in any of the articles I found. The police didn’t release that detail to the public.”

Karkat knew why that was probably a prudent decision on the police’s side. The bruise necklaced around his throat was just starting to fade, given by a man who all these years later was still chasing after Dave. 

“I… my sister,” Dave stuttered. “She got away. I know she did. Neither of my parents made it out alive and I remember that, but she escaped. I hid her from them.” 

“We can find her,” Karkat told him, rubbing comforting circles into his back. “Dave, we can find her, okay? She’s out there somewhere.”

“I always wondered,” Dave murmured, choking back a quiet sob as he admitted, “I never thought I’d see her again.”

“Do you want to?” Karkat asked, not wanting to push too far or probe too deep with questions the Incubus might not be prepared to answer. 

“Fuck yes,” Dave said, shuddering. He griped the picture of his childhood home to his chest and leaned into Karkat. “Do you think we can find her? How?”

“I’m not sure,” Karkat said, carding his fingers comfortingly through Dave’s corn silk hair. “The police there should know what happened to her after… after you vanished.” Karkat swallowed thickly, his throat painful around the words. “I’m sure that they kept her safe.”

Vanished, kidnapped. The truth was Dave had been stolen away and the same people that had taken him were crawling around again. Karkat wasn’t going to let them take Dave from him- he _wasn’t._ He protectively wrapped his arms tighter around Dave at the thought. 

The demon seemed to pick up on Karkat’s thoughts in that uncanny way he had. “Which is what worries me,” Dave said, turning into Karkat so that he could fully wrap his arms around the other person. He stared at Karkat, his shades dark. “If she’s safe and I’m not, won’t me being around put her in danger too?”

“That won’t happen,” Karkat swore, kissing the top of Dave’s pale head. “You are very safe to be around, Dave.”

“Why do you say that?” Dave asked, pulling away. “It was my fault you were attacked in Prospit.”

The guilt was clear in the demon’s voice, so Karkat stamped it right out. “No,” he said. “Dave, you saved me. That man was evil. That’s why he targeted me. It wasn’t your fault.”

“It was,” Dave said, sighing. “But hearing you say that does make me feel a little better about it.”

“Mhhh,” Karkat sighed wordlessly, pursuing the demon. Dave was covered in moonlight that spilled in through the window, casting his skin as marble, a flawless Adonis of grief that Karkat couldn’t stand to see. He hated to see Dave upset, and the degree of grief that the normally reserved demon was showing on his tear-streaked face hurt Karkat down to his core.

Karkat pulled Dave closer to him. He wiped at one crystalline tear with his thumb, brushing it away from where it marred Dave’s cheek. Another one quickly followed after it, so Karkat got that one as well. 

“What do we do now?” Dave asked, still hugging the photograph and unwilling to release it. 

Karkat took Dave’s hands, placing his fingers over where Dave gripped the newsprint. Dave’s fingers were cool underneath his touch as he smoothened out the paper. “I know what town this house, your house, in in,” Karkat told him quietly. “The police there might know something.”

“You want to go there?” Dave said, incredulous as he laughed tonelessly. “Where is it?”

“Maine,” Karkat answered, glad that was one detail he’d been able to wrangle from the internet. “Eastern Maine, near the sea.”

“You want to drive all the way out there to fucking Maine, just for this?” Dave asked. “I’ve got work. you’ve got school. We can’t exactly impromptu road trip this bitch.”

“So we plan around our obligations,” Karkat argued, fighting to make this plan possible. Ave deserved this much closure. If nothing else, he deserved to see his house again and know his last name. “I’ll rent a car. I’ll take time off my editing. We can make this work.” Dave’s hands gripped his back as Karkat said, “If nothing else, you’ll get to see your house again.”

The Incubus was hooked, Karkat could read that clearly in the suddenly excited tilt to his shoulders. “So we’re doing this,” he said. “We’re making this happen.”

“We’re making this happen,” Karkat agreed. He cocked his chin to the side, staring at Dave. “What do your weekend plans look like?”

“Fuck my weekend plans,” Dave said, smiling widely even though his face was still wet with tears. “I’ll clear my schedule.”

“I’ll finish up the projects I’m working on and get us a car,” Karkat said, throwing the haphazard idea into a framework he could work with. “You?”

“I’ve saved up enough off time to ransom a king’s vacation,” Dave answered. “I’ve been working for Derse for years. I can afford one weekend to myself.”

“So,” Karkat said, kissing at his lips with light, gentle pecks that Dave melted into.

“So,” Dave said, grinning against Karkat’s mouth as he hummed. “I’d better get to work,” He said, drawing back with a wicked grin. “I’m on double shift tonight."

“Fine,” Karkat sighed, leaning back with disappointment. “But,” he warned, “I’m coming with you.”

“You will?” Dave asked curiously. 

Karkat shrugged. “I’ll finish up my work and find us a car,” he said. “Besides, there’s no way I’m sleeping after this.”

“Alright,” Dave said, grinning as he jumped off the couch and shook himself like a dog, flinging his melancholy away in a way Karkat envied even as he recognized that Dave was just pulling on one of his masks as the Incubus shot him a cocky grin. “I’ll get dressed and then we can head over.”

Karkat noticed that he still didn’t let go of the photo as he quickly dipped into his room.

“Hey, Karkat,” Dave called out, his voice muffled. “Which outfit do you most want to see me in tonight?”

Karkat snorted, imagining Dave on stage in his plain red hoodie that Karkat loved so much. “What all is there?” he called back from the sofa. 

“Come and see,” Dave answered, and Karkat hefted himself off of the couch to go and take a peek at where Dave was busy stringing several different outfits across his unmade bed, each one more ridiculous than the last.

“Holy fuck, Dave, is that a fucking corset?” Karkat asked, his face instantly flushing with color. 

Dave, the complete bastard, immediately picked up on the blood that was rushing to Karkat’s face and he wickedly held the skimpy black leather up to himself. “What, this old thing?” Dave said innocently, highlighting the shocking contrast of black leather against his pale skin.

Karkat’s knees felt weak. “What?” he snapped, feeling uncomfortable and refusing to provoke the demon further. “Do you have something to say to me?”

“Oh, I’d never,” Dave said, setting the corset back in the closet. “There’s nothing wrong with a little crossdressing every now and then.”

Karkat felt in pain. “Don’t tell me,” he said. “I don’t even want to know.”

“What, haven’t you ever tried drag?” Dave asked, the demon in him alluring and addictive as he continued to rifle through several different outfits. “Drag is fucking great.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Karkat said, gulping, trying not to imagine Dave in any of the skimpy outfits the demon was purposefully laying out on display. 

“Did I ever tell you that before I was a DJ I was a stripper?” Dave said suddenly, as casually as if he’d been commenting on the weather. 

All in all, Karkat wasn’t even fucking surprised. Some of those outfits had no other rational explanation.

“Yeah,” Dave continued, chuckling to himself. “Contrary to popular belief I didn’t spring from the womb knowing how to work a turntable with the godlike abilities I have now. While I figured out the learning curve of the music industry I had to find a different line of work for a few months. Damn, was I fucking good at it too.”

Karkat would have bet that was the truth. He carefully kept his mind away from thoughts that Dave might enjoy too much, knowing how the Incubus could pick of on things like that. He might as well have held up a neon sign that screamed how into that idea he was, so instead he though very hard about nothing. 

There would be time for those thoughts later. 

“What about this?” Karkat asked, his hand landing on the first outfit that looked like he wouldn’t immolate on the spot if he saw Dave in it. 

Dave considered it and shrugged, grinning. “If you say so,” he answered cheekily, snagging the outfit and vanishing into the bathroom to change.

Karkat purposefully did not think about how soft that leather had looked, how it might feel under his hands. He heard Dave bark a laugh from the direction of the restroom and knew that he’d failed, so he thought fuck you very loudly in Dave’s direction.

“That’s the eventual plan,” Dave said, entering the room again wearing an outfit that Karkat instantly knew was a mistake.

The fabric hugged every curve of Dave’s legs and ass, accenting his slim hips beneath the overlarge black jacket that veered to his waist to reveal the snow white shirt he wore underneath it. It was an eye catching and stunning outfit. 

Karkat instantly wanted to take it off him, to reveal the muscular frame that the outfit hinted at with its tasteful flares. 

Dave’s eyes were burning beneath his shades as Karkat reached for him and pressed their lips eagerly together. It was a heady kiss, but there was sadness in it, a shocking sadness so strong that Karkat could taste it on his tongue as he pulled away. 

Dave sighed. “I do have work,” he reminded Karkat, his hands playing at Karkat’s hips, kneading with his thumbs. 

Karkat nodded mutely, swallowing. “Work,” he repeated, trying to focus. 

“Work,” Dave deadpanned, sighing. He’d been doing that a lot in the past few minutes. “I’ve got doubles tonight.”

Karkat also sighed, but his was a noise of disappointed. “Okay,” he relented, stepping back to put some distance between them. 

Dave pouted in return, clearly not enjoying the empty space between their bodies.

“It’s necessary,” Karkat told him. “Otherwise I’m not going to let you leave.” It was getting harder to keep his thoughts clean, and he was certain that the demon was picking up on the bleed-through. 

Dave groaned, his lip between his teeth. “You can’t tell me something like that and then expect me to know how to handle it,” he protested. 

“You are the most sexed-up being on the planet,” Karkat said to the Incubus.

Dave laughed in response. “It’s in the job description,” he said, kissing Karkat hungrily. 

“Really,” Karkat asked, sarcastic. “Being unbearably sexy is a requirement for DJing?”

“You think I’m unbearably sexy?” Dave asked, excited as a 10 year old with a bag of candy.

Karkat couldn’t think straight with Dave’s hands on his hips like they were. “Maybe,” he admitted evasively, putting more distance between them to clear his head. Dave’s hands left his skin tingling with regret.

Dave sighed again and the noise grated against Karkat’s ears. “Okay,” he relented. “Let’s go.”  
…

 

Derse wasn’t a club like Prospit. Derse was a dark, gritty, mob-run heartthrob of a place spawned out of vice and left to marinate in its own sins until the very walls fell apart around the clubbers. Not that anyone was complaining about the run-down joint- that was part of the allure. 

In a way it made sense that a place like this would have opened its doors to a younger Dave, and Karkat could tell that it certainly wouldn’t give a shit if the management found out about Dave’s demon status. 

Both of the bouncers were Infrit. One wore a necklace made of black claws around his throat that Karkat had a feeling were the real thing. They both let Dave pass without a word.

Inside, the lights weren’t the neon vomit of the other clubs. They were smoother, lower. They set the mood as a jazzy tune played over the speakers. A server walked by wearing nothing but pink feathers and fishnets, expertly fielding drink orders form the mob around her. 

Karkat had only been to this club with Dave at his side. While he’d been growing slowly use to the other joints the demon frequented, Derse was altogether a different world. It was like he’d stepped both back and forward in time the instant he passed through the revolving door. The mirrored ceiling overhead made him paranoid that someone was always a single step behind him, following right at the corners of his vision. This was his least favorite of the places Dave worked. Derse just didn't agree with Karkat. 

Dave though… the demon glowed beneath the pulsing lights. His perfect teeth reflected the glimmer of LEDs, the same light that caught in lines across his shades. The snow white undershirt he wore popped out in the darkness and drew in the eye exactly like how Karkat had planned. “Come on,” Dave said, tugging Karkat through the crowd. “The booth is this way.”

Unlike Prospit, Derse’s version of private booths were open-pit layouts set suspended below the dancefloor. From here Karkat could only catch flashes of the stage through the mirrored ceiling. The lack of a clear line of sight made him uncomfortable, but it did have a more private feel even without the surrounding curtains drawn. 

Dave left to ready his first set as Karkat began googling car rentals and looking up hotels along the fastest route to the Maine town. It hit him then, that they were really doing this. 

Karkat bit at his lower lip with a sudden, crippling worry. What if they didn’t find anything? Worse, what if they drew the unwanted attention that seemed to be stalking Dave’s steps and brought down something worse than one rouge psychic with a strangulation fetish?

The message took him by surprise.

twinArmageddons (TA) began Pestering carcinoGeneticist (CG) at 10:14pm!

TA: hey  
TA: 2o ii’m back two working the night 2cene now that my hand’2 cleared up and ii’m at pro2piit toniight  
TA: care two tell me why the fuck dave’2 been fiired?  
CG: IT’S A LONG STORY AND IM NOT SURE HOW MUCH OF IT IS MINE TO TELL.  
CG: IM NOT COMFORTABLE WITH SPILLING THE DETAILS, BUT YES, THEY FIRED DAVE.  
TA: ok 2o he’2 a demon? What kiind?  
TA: he’2 got to be 2ome 2cary 2hiit iif pro2piit canned hiim over iit. he’2 worked here for year2  
TA: 2hiit  
TA: now iit’2 ju2t me and fuckiing diirk workiing thii2 place  
TA: 2till there kk?  
TA: come on, iit’2 not liike ii diidn’t already know dave wa2 a demon- we kiinda found that out at the ho2piital, you know, when ii wa2 fuckiing 2hot  
TA: hello? kk?  
CG: SORRY ITS JUST REALLY LOUD IN HERE. THE LIGHTS MAKE IT HARD TO READ MY SCREEN. YOUR FUCKING QUIRK DOESN’T MAKE THINGS ANY EASIER ON ME DEAR FUCKING GOD MY EYES WHY DO I KEEP ANSWERING YOU BACK WHEN ALL I’LL EVER ACCOMPLISH THROUGH ANY CONVERSATION WITH YOU IS ANOTHER FUCKING MIGRAINE.  
TA: hey, 2iincerely, fuck you.  
TA: what club are you iin?  
CG: DERSE.  
TA: yeah make2 2en2e they wouldn’t can him. that place ii2 a demon hotbed  
CG: REALLY? I HADN'T FUCKING NOTICED.  
TA: 2archa2m won’t 2ave you from avoiidiing my que2tiion, fucker  
TA: ii want to know what daemon kiind dave ii2.  
CG: WHY ARE YOU BEING SO NOSEY? IT’S NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS.  
TA: iit kind of ii2  
TA: iive heard rumors about him for year2, not all of them good  
TA: and ii 2aw the article they put out about him in the papers  
TA: 2o ju2t tell me, ye2 or no, if he’2 actually an iincubu2 becau2e that2 what they're fuckiing askiing for and plea2e dont let that be hiim  
TA: plea2e for the love of god say no  
CG: I CAN’T ANSWER THAT AND YOU FUCKING KNOW THAT, ASSHOLE  
CG: WHY DOES THIS BOTHER YOU SO MUCH ANYWAY? WHY DO YOU CARE?  
TA: karkat  
TA: there are people iin pro2piit riight fuckiing now a2kiing around about anyone who miight know 2triider  
TA: do you hear me?  
TA: there are people tryiing to fiind him and they’re askiing for an iincubu2  
CG: FUCK. FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUUUUCCKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
TA: yeah, ii thought 2o  
CG: NO, FUCK, SOLLUX, YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!  
CG: THIS IS BAD, LIKE, EXTREMELY BAD.  
TA: no 2hiit kk ii fuckiing know iit2 bad  
TA: what can ii do to help? iit cant be anythiing two extravagant because now that iim psiioniic iim on thiin fuckiing iice with the management here, but ii want to help  
TA: jesus chrii2t ii think they’re trying two hunt hiim down what 2hiit diid he get hiim2elf iinto?  
CG: HE NEVER DID ANYTHING TO THEM!  
TA: sheesh alright calm the fuck down kk  
TA: ii’ll see iif ii can keep them off the trail over here, but iif they’re at pro2piit iit wont be long before they’re over at der2e  
CG: I’LL GET DAVE.  
CG: SOLLUX, I KNOW I DON’T SAY THIS AS OFTEN AS I SHOULD, BUT THANK YOU  
CG: FUCK THAT FELT WEIRD I’M NEVER SAYING THAT AGAIN SO I HOPE YOU FUCKING ENJOYED IT  
TA: ii’ll cherii2h thii2 moment forever, now get the fuck out of there

twinArmageddons (TA) has become an idle chum!

Karkat slapped his laptop closed and looked up… directly into the face of the psychic from before. 

The man nodded happily at him as Karkat’s heart nearly exploded at the sight. His throat gave an unwelcome twang as if remembering what had happened the last time he’d been alone with this guy. 

“It’s Karkat, right?” The man said, walking into the booth and sitting across from him. The setting was just familiar enough to give Karkat goosebumps. 

Karkat felt the music swell as Dave started up his set. Karkat recognized this one, a fast-paced, upbeat number that would have him occupied with the turntables until the song was done. He probably wouldn’t even look up until he was finished. This time, Karkat couldn’t count on Dave to come save him. 

Irrationally, Karkat felt a flash of burning anger at the guy who just wouldn’t leave them the fuck alone. “Why the hell did you decide to show your ugly face here?” He said. “You know I’m not telling you anything.” He felt enraged, snappish, unwilling to back down or give in despite the danger he was in. 

“Relax,” the guy said, chuckling as if humored by Karkat’s anger. “I’m just here to talk.”

Karkat stood up, his computer forgotten. “I’m leaving,” he said. He made his way to the edge of the booth when the man’s voice stopped him.

“It’s Dave, isn’t it?” He asked, sighing like he was savoring the sounds. “Strider’s real name is Dave.”

Karkat didn’t dare so much as hesitate. “Fuck off,” Karkat said, storming out of the booth. Or, he would have if the way hadn’t been blocked by a slim man wearing all black. An eyepatch obscured one eye but not the mess of scar tissue that lingered around the damaged socket.

“I think you should sit back down,” the new man told him, and Karkat gulped at the sheer deadly intent this person gave off, something cold, effective, and utterly terrifying.

Karkat did as he was told, and the new man huffed as he took a seat next to Karkat, staring at the psychic with cold consideration. “Are you harassing my clients?” he asked. 

The man was sweating. “No sir,” he said, ducking his head down with the same cowardice he’d shown in Prospit the instant things hadn’t gone his way. 

“You know who I am?” The man asked curiously. 

The psychic nodded. Karkat just looked confused. Who the fuck was this guy?

“Slick,” the man said, savoring his name. “I own this respectable joint, you see,” he said, crossing his arms. “And I don’t like it when fuckers like you show their ugly mugs in my business place, harassing patrons and asking things about my honored employees, you see.”

The man, Slick’s, eye was cold and unblinking as he stared straight into the soul of the poor psychic. 

“Yessir,” the man muttered, “I see.”

“Good,” Slick nodded. “Since you’ve been so understandable, I’ll even be generous enough to have my help throw you out on your ass instead of keeping you here, _you see_.”

A second man appeared at the lip of the booth. This man had the widest shoulders Karkat had ever seen and the neck of a bull ox. He grinned, revealing tombstone teeth. 

“Boxcars,” Slick said, nodding. “See this fine gentlemanly piece of shit outside, and you,” he said, staring at the man threateningly. “If I ever see you in here again, you won’t walk out.” It was a promise, delivered unflinching and honest.

The man gulped as Boxcars lead him away by the scruff of his neck, frog-marching him in the direction of the front door. The music swelled again, something techno and irresistible.

Slick stared at Karkat, who stared back with unblinking eyes as the man pulled out and lit a cigarillo. He took a deep puff and hissed out the smoke. “Karkat, isn’t it?” He asked. 

Karkat had never so instantly been grateful to and afraid of anyone before. “I am,” he answered, swallowing thickly and raising his chin. 

“Spades Slick,” the man said with a hand to his heart. “I’m in charge here, and I’ve been chasing men like that scumbag out all fuckin’ afternoon. Won’t stop asking questions about Dave.” The man took another draw of the thin cigarillo before continuing, conversationally, like they were old friends. “Dave’s been here for years. Great guy, better employee. He keeps his head down and his mouth shut. It’s hard to find help like him anymore in a place like this, filled with backstabbers everywhere all lookin’ to make a quick buck.”

“I know,” Karkat said to fill the silence between them that occurred with each pause in the man’s words. He’d never been so unnerved before. It was unsettling. 

“Dave, he’s safe here,” Spades Slick said, nodding at Karkat. “Don’t you worry about that. He’s safe whenever I’ve got my eye on him from anyone that might wish to… do a little unsanctioned harm, you understand?”

“I get it,” Karkat said, grateful again as he couldn’t help but warm up to this strange guy with the eye like a blade and a sense of loyalty to match. Karkat got it. He understood the feeling of responsibility to those under his care. 

“Christ knows that kid’s been through enough,” Slick said, his voice fond. “I might only have one fuckin’ eye but I see everything that goes on in here,” he said, gesturing upwards at the mirrors on the ceiling. “Nothing’ll happen to either of you in here,” Slick swore, the cigarillo between his fingers burning down to a stub that he ground out against the calloused palm of his hand in the single most hardcore move Karkat had ever seen. “This is a good place for misfits. We look out for each other.”

Karkat didn’t know what to say. “Thank you,” he said, but intimidated and reassured by the presence of the strange man before him. 

The music skipped over into the next track as the crowd cheered. The lights flashed. Spades Slick nodded at him, standing back up. “Treat him well, will you?” He asked. “The kid needs someone good for him more than he’ll ever admit.”

“I will.” Karkat said, smiling, glad that this one thing he could swear by as onstage Dave continued to play his heart out. 

No wonder Dave felt at home here between the oily shadows and seedy mobsters. They looked out for each other when Karkat couldn't. he glanced up at the upside-down image of Dave onstage and felt his heartbeat begin to settle. 

At least Karkat could count on Derse to be there for Dave in the midnight hours. maybe together they could keep the Incubus safe.

from what, Karkat was just starting to piece together. Slick must know. Dave knew. Maybe... maybe it was time for Karkat know as well. He felt like he was drowning in secrets as the music swelled around him in waves. One thing was for sure. He didn't need to worry about Dave at this club, not with a thousand reflected eyes on him at all times from a crew of stab-happy mobsters.

Karkat changed his mind about Derse. The place didn't seem so bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stabdad AU is my secret guilty pleasure shhhh no one tell my sister or she'll have me bust out some 100k fic of the AU (jokes on AG I already have one lol)
> 
> I think i'm done with seeding things around in this world, so next chapter the action begins! its time for freakin PLOT
> 
> or smut
> 
> or.......... b o t h ;)


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> new chapter woohoo
> 
> time for............... _fluff_

In the end, Karkat didn’t even have to rent a car on his own. Dad lent him one of the older church vans, the logo faded but still legible beneath the peeling veneer. It was an ugly eyesore but it was reliable and free, so Karkat counted his blessings. 

It took only a few hours for him to pack up enough clothes for the three day journey, and then he left in the van to pick up his boyfriend. 

“Please tell me you have a driver’s license,” Karkat said as soon as Dave opened the passenger door and threw his stuff into the back. 

“Naw,” Dave said shrugging. “Can’t say that I do, Karkat.”

Karkat groaned and leaned forward until his head rested against the steering wheel. “I’m going to drive the entire time,” he complained, hating the trip before they’d even begun. “Kill me.”

“Nope,” Dave said, popping his lips on the p, clearly enjoying himself. “No dying on our super special road trip of manly bonding and memory making for the ages,” he said, grinning widely, his expression blinding with his joy. “Dying’s illegal, Karkat, don’t you remember?”

“I must have missed the update,” He replied, his own mood lightening due to proximity to the Incubus. “Are you ready?”

“Dude, I was born ready,” Dave said, easing himself into the seat and buckling up with eager fingers. “I spent all day yesterday assembling the ultimate playlist of driving music for us.”

“Dear God,” Karkat prayed, groaning again. “Do I even want to know?”

“Scratch that,” Dave said, chuckling. “I actually made two playlists. One for me and one for you.”

“That sounds slightly better,” Karkat admitted as he threw the van in gear, google maps pulled up on his phone to help direct him through all 16 hours of the drive to upstate fucking Maine.

Dave let out a shaky breath. “We’re actually doing this,” the demon said breathlessly. “We’re making this happen.”

“We’re making this happen,” Karkat agreed as he pulled out onto the main road, weaving between the bright beetles of yellow cabs that scuttled around the city. A cab blew its horn as him and Karkat swore right back.

Okay, here was the thing. Karkat wasn’t the best of drivers. Driving made his blood pressure go through the fucking roof because the roads were only populated by stupid people who didn’t use their blinkers and merged without warning and drove five miles below the fucking speed limit.

“Dude, your road rage is showing,” Dave said, chuckling again. Karkat turned to snap at him before he heard Dave say, “It’s cute on you.”

Karkat closed his mouth with a snap, blushing, his gaze locked on the road as the first bars of whatever song Dave had chosen began to play in the background. 

This was going to be a long trip.  
…

 

“So,” Karkat said once they were over an hour outside of the city limits. “Tell me about your house.” The silence was beginning to eat at him, Karkat couldn’t take 15 more hours of nothing but the techno metallic snap of the drums on the track Dave was stuck playing on repeat for no reason that Karkat could recognize. 

For a second he was afraid that Dave wouldn’t answer, or that he’d shrug and say that he didn’t remember anything to escape the questioning that made him feel uncomfortable, like he always did. Karkat struggled to strangle back his urge to be nosy and dig into his boyfriend’s childhood, which was still a sore subject. 

Dave didn’t paused the music, but he did turn the volume down. “I remember everything about it,” he said quietly, reminiscing. “We would plant flowers in the front yard every spring and this old brown mangy dog would always come by the next day and dig them up and shit everywhere. I loved that old son of a bitch. Named him Gerome.” He said fondly, then he sighed. “I can remember the places and things we did together just fine, but my parents, their faces… I can’t see them.” 

Karkat swallowed thickly, his very soul aching.

Dave shrugged. “I don’t know what you want me to say,” he said. “I haven’t thought about that house in years.”

“You do want to see it though, right?” Karkat asked, concern finding its way into his heart. Maybe this road trip was a bad idea. Maybe Dave wasn’t ready to face this small sliver of his past.

“I do,” Dave answered too quickly, his voice tight. “Let’s… let’s just talk about something else.”

That wasn’t a good sign. “Okay,” Karkat said, gripping the steering wheel tighter. “I’ll shut up. Message received.”

“No, that’s not it,” Dave struggled to explain, still leaning away, his face turned towards the window. “It’s just…” He trailed off, his fingers tapping a senseless, nervous rhythm against the windowsill. “Quick.”

“Quick?” Karkat said, intrigued enough not to break off and swear at the driver of a red sedan that just cut him off.

“I’ve spent years hunting answers,” Dave said, his voice soft and quiet. “I’ve only ever found nothing. Every end has been a dead one, and then I met you and now it feels like everything is rushing at me all at once.”

“Is that bad?” Karkat asked, his voice small. 

“Sometimes,” Dave admitted. “I’ve lived a quiet life for years and now everything is getting shaken up. It just makes me feel like the other shoe is going to drop.”

Was Karkat really to blame for Dave’s lack of peace? Was his family? Porrim’s new laws? Was it possible that the root of all Dave’s woes could be traced intrinsically back to Karkat’s attentions?

“You know,” Karkat said nervously. “The night I first met you, I only flirted back to piss Sollux off.”

The subject change worked. Dave nearly snorted with repressed laughter. “I might have been able to tell,” he admitted, chuckling. “You hated me.”

“I did,” Karkat reminisced. “It was only after the first part of our first date that I realized what a mistake you were, how much I had fucked up by agreeing to go out with you because after that- you had me hooked. Even now I can’t make myself stay away.”

“Do you want to stay away from me?” Dave asked, saddened. There was something serious buried beneath his tone, like if Karkat said yes the demon would vanish like smoke in the wind. 

“God, no,” Karkat answered immediately, spitting out the plain truth. “I only want to be beside you.” he paused, incredulous that he’d just admitted that out loud. Fuck. 

Dave’s expression didn’t change. He didn’t even move, but the ceaseless tapping of his fingertips drumming on the dashboard stopped. The van was silent. 

“Is that a bad thing?” Karkat asked, feeling very small.

There was only silence, then, “I don’t feel like it should be,” Dave said after a long pause. “As long as you’re okay with me sticking around, I’ll be here.”

The quiet promise brought a smile to Karkat’s lips. He felt sharp relief and he wasn’t even sure why. “I’ve never been into serious dating before,” Karkat said, his eyes locked straight ahead. “I mean, sure, fuck. I dated Terezi but that didn’t work out. It broke my damn heart,” Karkat said. “So I learned to take it slow and not trust others. I learned how to judge first and not form a second opinion. I tried everything I could to harden my heart.” He paused, swallowing. “Then… I saw you.”

“Was it love at first sight?” Dave asked, joking, he had to be joking. 

“Nope,” Karkat answered. “Remember, I fucking hated you.”

“What made you change your mind?” Dave asked curiously. 

“You did,” Karkat said quietly. “Just you. I liked how I felt around you, I liked how when you’re not onstage you’re this entirely different person that only I get to see. I liked how honest you were. You made it easy to feel comfortable around you, and I didn’t know how to react to that because I’d spent so long pushing other people away that I didn’t remember how to act nice, but you made it so fucking easy and that scared the shit out of me.”

“It did?” Dave asked, surprised. 

“It did,” Karkat confirmed. “I went from hating you to tolerating you to liking you far too much all the way too fast. Liking you felt like I was falling face-first down a mountainside. It was just so…quick.”

It was worse than falling face-first down a mountainside. This was bull-in-a-china-shop hells of problematic. It was breathless and exhilarating and terrifying. It left his heart singing and his face warm, but God was it fast. Wasn’t love supposed to take more time than this to grow?

“Quick,” Dave repeated, his mouth twisted up in a half-there expression Karkat couldn’t read.

The demon had no idea the secret thoughts of love that were running through Karat’s mind, and he sure as fuck wasn’t about to tell him in a borrowed van halfway to fucking Maine. Karkat had _standards._

“So I think I might understand what you mean when you say you’re afraid of the other shoe dropping,” Karkat said. “The quickness makes it feel like there’s something waiting for me at the bottom, and I dread it.”

“Me too,” Dave answered, quiet, cautious, unsure where Karkat was taking this. 

“But there doesn’t have to be,” Karat said, desperate to believe it. “This trip, us… everything is going to turn out okay.”

“How do you know that?” Dave asked. “Our mutual compatibility?”

“Partly,” Karkat said, his eyes on the road. “I just feel like everything is going to be okay. The rough patches never last.” It was a quiet prayer, unspoken, but he meant it. In the end, things would work out. A sense of peace filled him as the thought, washing over him from above. The sun shone a little brighter as it came out from behind the clouds. 

Dave exhaled the breath he’d been holding, relaxing. “That they don’t,” he agreed, and he went back to staring out the window as the sun rose in the sky.  
…

 

Karkat drove the whole time, avoiding potholes so that Dave could rest as the daylight bled into his normal sleeping hours as his pale head dropped onto his chest. Karkat didn’t try to keep him awake, knowing that the demon needed his sleep. 

He crossed the state line without fanfare, the music switching from track to track, each of them songs Karkat loved that Dave had tenderly chosen for him. It was such a small gesture of goodwill but it made Karkat’s throat feel tight. 

The road gave him plenty of time to think, and the longer he thought the surer he was that he was going in the right direction, both figuratively and literally. 

Dave woke up as the sun reached its peak and fell lower in the sky, casting the golden light of afternoon across the landscape. The trees stood in the vibrant green of summertime against the hillsides and ridges Karkat drove over, a reminder of the looming end of the semester and graduation and the end of his school career with all of its mounting uncertainties. 

His entire life was changing, poised on the precipice of his future with no safe holds waiting beneath him. Karkat’s trepidation over the future could take its bites of him all it wanted- now he was in the present, here, with Dave, laughing over some lame joke as the demon kept up a running commentary on each car they passed and his fear of the future couldn’t touch him when he was with Dave. 

“Hey,” Dave said, sitting upright out of his slouch. “We’re almost there.”

Karkat checked the mile marker on his phone. Less than 5 miles to go. They were already passing the first of the neighborhoods. “Okay,” Karkat said, planning out loud. “We need a hotel first, then food.”

“Done,” Dave said, typing away at his phone. “I just booked us a room online.” He fluttered his fine eyelashes at Karkat, his shades hanging at the neck of his shirt, eyes bare. “I hope sharing a bed is okay with you,” he said. “I booked us a single.”

It was such a privilege to see his eyes uncovered that Karkat wasn’t willing to spoil the moment. Dave rarely felt comfortable enough to take off his shades and Karkat loved these secret moments where Dave trusted him enough to remove the protective eyewear. 

Karkat snorted, nearly losing it. “Dave,” he said. “We’ve shared a bed before.”

“Just checking,” Dave replied, throwing up his hands. “I don’t have anything against sleeping on the floor, just in case you change your mind.”

“You’re insufferable,” Karkat told him gladly, not even a little bit off put. “So. Food?”

“There’s a few places,” Dave said, staring out over the town as Karkat drove into the city limits. “God,” he said, sounding shocked. “I don’t remember any of this.”

“It’s probably changed a lot,” Karkat offered comfortingly. “It’s been years, after all.”

“Maybe,” Dave said, still keenly observing the surroundings. He slipped his shades back on as Karkat pulled into what appeared to be the town’s local diner, which was just named, ‘The Restaurant.’

“Do you remember this place?” Karkat asked curiously. The building looked ancient, surely it stood here 15 years ago.

“Nope,” Dave said, slightly bittered by the realization. “Let’s go.”

The diner was warm and welcoming. Karkat could tell that the hostess pegged them as outsiders immediately, her smile plastered in place. “Hello, how many are you dining with tonight?” She asked, like she hadn’t been watching them like a hawk since he’d pulled into the parking lot.

“Just two,” Karkat answered. 

“Take a seat anywhere,” she said, waving towards the empty booths. Her curious eyes were trying not to stare too hard at Dave, who stood out like a sore thumb against the backdrop of small town life. The demon nearly glowed under the florescent lights, his skin tight, eyes hidden, clearly uncomfortable in a place with nowhere to hide. 

They took a seat by the window. Karkat let Dave take the corner seat so that his back could be to the wall. The waitress was overly helpful, nearly hovering over their table.

At least the food was remarkably good. Dave ate enough for three people and then he had dessert, which Karkat stole a few bites of out of playful spite. The entire time, he couldn’t erase the sense that too many patrons were staring at them, whispering even. It was unusual and strange and he knew that Dave could tell as well because the longer they stayed in the diner the more tense the demon got. He only relaxed again once Karkat paid for their meal and unlocked the van.

Karkat couldn’t blame him. That was fucking strange. Were all small towns this neurotic about outsiders?

Dave let himself fall into the passenger seat. He slammed the door behind him and shivered. “Was it just me or were they watching us?” He asked. 

“It’s not just you,” Karkat admitted unwillingly. “But, it’s probably nothing. We’re the newcomers. This is a small town. They probably are just gossiping about us like the busybodies they are.”

“Yeah,” Dave agreed, unconvinced. “The hotel’s this way.”

The hotel was respectable, and Karkat left Dave to go check in and pick up the key. He met Dave at the door, nearly vibrating with relief at the thought of a soft bed after so long spent in a car. 

The room was small and nice, the beige walls painted with dull colors that inspired restful peace. There were fresh flowers in a vase on the table. Dave rubbed the petals of a rose between his fingers, gentle enough not to bruise them.

“I am exhausted,” Karkat exclaimed tiredly, yawing as he set his small case down on the bed.

Dave immediately attacked the air conditioning unit, which was pouring freezing air into the room. He all but unplugged it from the wall in his quest to stop the flow of colder air. 

“You know,” Karkat remarked. “Cold temperatures aren’t supposed to bother demons.”

“That doesn’t mean that I enjoy freezing my ass off for no reason,” Dave answered, rolling his shoulders. The demon was bright and alert and ready for the night. He looked awake and excited.

Karkat was just trying not to physically decompose before he could drag his aching body into the bed. He could barely keep his eyes open. It had been a long day.

“What now?” Dave asked, pacing the room with long strides.

“Sleep,” Karkat grunted, already rifling through his overnight case for a toothbrush and fresh underwear, his mind focused on the idea of a hot shower. 

Dave didn’t complain; he nodded, resigned. “Alright,” he said. “I can wait until tomorrow for the excitement.”

Karkat nodded, barley paying attention as he texted Dad, Kanaya, and Kankri to let them know that he’d made the trip safely. His thought process didn’t go beyond shower first, then sleep.

He left Dave in the bedroom to take a quick shower. The water pressure left something to be desired but at least it was hot. Steam covered the small room and fogged over the mirror.

He got dressed once he was done and left to find Dave still pacing by the window, the blinds drawn. The Incubus was a burning beacon of nervous energy as he stared out into the night between the slats in the blinds. 

“Dave,” Karkat sighed. “You’re going to give me anxiety if you keep doing that.”

Dave drew his fingers out of the blinds so that the shadows couldn’t press through. “I can’t help it,” Dave said shrugging. “It’s only ten o’clock and I can’t stop thinking about tomorrow.”

Sympathy filled Karkat’s chest. “It’s alright,” he said. “I understand.” God- his entire body was one massive throbbing sore. His back was in knots. He yawned again because he couldn’t help it and Dave smiled.

“Do you want help with that?” the demon asked, something wicked in his face. “I can tell your shoulders are sore.”

Karkat could imagine what kind of help Dave meant and his face flushed with color. “I am not having sex with you in a $40 hotel room,” he said, thinking with paranoia about how thin the walls must be. And the neighbors. God. “Besides, I don’t think I can- my entire body is in pain.”

“I know,” Dave said, shrugging, not the slightest bit offended at the hotel room joke. “I can tell. That’s what I’m talking about. I can fix that,” he said, coming closer.

Karkat swallowed thickly. “How?” He asked, suspicious. 

Dave held up his hands and wiggled his fingers. “Magic fingers,” he said, winking beneath his shades. 

“Really?” Karkat asked sarcastically. “Magic fingers? That’s the line you go with?”

Dave looked sheepish. “Did it work?”

“I think I’m too tired to care,” Karkat answered, sliding into bed. “Try whatever you want, just let me rest.”

“You won’t have to do anything but lay there,” Dave promised. 

Karkat was intrigued enough not to curl into Dave when the demon got into bed with him. He held still, waiting.

It was remarkably hard not to reach for the demon once he was settled in, sitting cross-legged on the mattress. “Turn over,” Dave asked, his voice low and sultry.

Karkat could guess well enough what was coming, but there was still a moment of hesitation before he willingly bared his back to the Incubus. It was such a vulnerable, unfamiliar position; Dave hovering over him, Karkat’s chest pressing against the mattress. He could feel his lungs fill and then empty, his ribs expanding as he inhaled.

Dave touched him gently. His fingertips rubbed sure, slow circles into Karkat’s skin, prodding at the knots of muscle he found wound tightly along the entire length of Karkat’s sore spine. 

Karkat tried very hard to hold still as Dave’s hands grew more sure of themselves and began to explore his back. He kept his eyes closed, focusing on the tantalizing sensation of it. He was still wearing a loose-fitting shirt and he could feel the warmth of Dave’s fingers through the thin material. 

Dave spent at least five minutes just mapping out the expanse of him with simple touches of trailing fingers, making sure that he could reach all parts of Karkat’s back as Karkat acclimated to the unexpected closeness of it.

He’d just started to grow drowsy under Dave’s gentle attentions when the demon pressed his thumbs into the area between his shoulder blades and rolled the pads of his fingers over the aching knobs of Karkat’s abused spine. Karkat felt the resulting jolt clear to his toes as he made a low noise from between his teeth. Shit. 

“Shhhh, relax,” Dave said, his voice a whisper. “I’ve got you.”

Dave continued to move his hands up to Karkat’s neck, where with skilled fingers he worked out the kinks leftover from a long day of driving. His palms brushed against Karkat’s skin, leaving little flickers of warmth below him as Dave painted heat across Karkat’s body. 

Karkat laid still as Dave started to make his way down the full length of Karkat’s back, rubbing the tension out of his knotted shoulders one muscle group at a time. Dave took his time with it, seeding warmth and heat through Karkat as he methodically worked his way lower.

Karkat was content to never move again. All of his stress was melting away as inch by inch his body began to relax in a way that he’d never felt before as Dave’s hands ghosted across him. It was almost more intimate than the time they’d actually slept together and he hadn’t even taken off his shirt. This time there was no rushing behind the sow touch, no further intent beyond comfort.

This was going to drive Karkat insane. He could physically feel the heat of Dave hovering over him, feel the shape of his hands encircling him as every trace of the lingering soreness left him. _Magic fingers indeed._

__

Dave reached the final vertebrae, massaging Karkat’s skin with his thumbs. His spread fingers wrapped around the dips of Karkat’s hips as the heat settled lower in his belly at the exact instant he felt Dave lean down and press a chaste kiss to where his neck met his shoulder. 

__

Karkat felt his lips curve into a smile. His heart was shivering inside him with content-ness as he turned around to pull Dave closer to him. He wrapped his hands around Dave’s neck and pulled the demon down onto him, his lips searching for Dave’s. He found his target with a light peck, still smiling as Dave wrapped his arms around him. 

__

“How was that?” Dave asked teasingly. 

__

Karkat scoffed and brushed Dave’s hair back from his face to see him better, resting against the demon’s chest. “God, Dave,” Karkat said sleepily. “I’ve never felt so content before. I never want to get out of this bed.”

__

“I’ll let you sleep in,” Dave promised quietly. “You let me sleep on the drive. You deserve it.”

__

“No,” Karkat said, yawning. “We need to be up early to get everything done. What about you?” He asked. “Do you think you can stay up all day?”

__

“I will if I sleep all night,” Dave answered, snuggling deeper into the thick comforter. “I can always sleep when I’m beside you.”

__

Karkat blinked, his throat full as he leaned forward to kiss Dave one more time, something hot and lingering. “Goodnight, Dave,” he said.

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the LAST SLOW CHAPTER! its time! The time for plot is here!
> 
> We're getting stuff done now >:)


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter is up!!!!!!
> 
> Now its time for the Big Sad oh no

Karkat woke to the beeping of the alarm on his phone. He grunted and automatically reached over to turn the damn thing off when he felt fingers wrap around his hand. His eyes shot open.

Dave’s shades were in place as Karkat blinked at him, his sleep-filled brain too slow to comprehend exactly where he was for a few moments. 

“Morning,” Dave said, clearly wide awake.

Karkat lifted himself off of the warm mattress and sat upright, feeling more relaxed than ever as the memories of last night flooded him.

“Did you sleep well?” Dave asked curiously.

Karkat took a moment to stretch out his arms, rolling his shoulders and finding no hint of the stiffness he’d been expecting to plague him. “I haven’t slept so well in years,” he answered truthfully. He wanted nothing more than to lie back down with Dave and sleep away the morning, but his drive to fill the gaps in Dave’s missing memory roused him back into awareness. 

Today was the day. It was time to get some fucking answers. 

The hotel had a complimentary breakfast which Dave gladly dismantled single-handedly with wolfish intent as Karkat munched on a plain bagel in the corner. He still found it amusing how much food Dave could put away in one sitting.

Karkat still had the address to the house in his phone from yesterday, and they left the hotel at 8 am sharp. 

The town was waking up around them as Karkat drove the van through the small downtown district. Driving like this they didn’t attract any odd stares- church vans were invisible and immune to prying eyes. That was just a fact. 

Dave didn’t say anything for the ride, but Karkat could feel the demon getting tense the closer they got to the correct address. 

The neighborhood looked fairly normal. There were blue and white painted houses that lined the street, the sidewalks lined with apple trees in full leaf. The houses got smaller the longer Karkat drove, the white picket fences vanished down side streets that looked bright and happy. Warning, the sign read. Children at play. 

Karkat drove in silence until the street dead-ended in a gravel driveway. Dave’s fingers were white against the windowsill. 

“You have reached your destination,” Karkat’s phone said, the travel app speaking as the house stared at them. 

The house clearly wasn’t lived in and hadn’t been lived in for some time, but there was evidence of love in the freshly cut grass. Time had stolen the police crime tape and from here Karkat could see a white sign hanging on the door. The dark windows were gaping holes in the face of the house, the paint worn and dull with age, the dogwoods overgrown and untrimmed. 

But that was just the surface of the house. Underneath the veneer of abandonment Karkat could sense the memory of warmth and love hidden between the slats of the drawn blinds. From the outside it looked like a good home to raise a family in. 

Karkat didn’t need to ask Dave if this was the right house, not when he caught sight of the demon’s face.

Dave was pale. There was a tremor in the hands that clutched the door handle like he was liable to snap it off. “Let’s go,” Dave said, opening the door to step out of the van. 

“Wait,” Karkat said, pulling the rest of the way into the driveway to cut the van off. He could almost feel the neighbors staring at them. The church van wasn’t exactly an inconspicuous vehicle and clearly had no business being parked here. 

Dave stared at the silent van, his brow furrowed. “Let’s make this quick,” he said. “I don’t want the neighbors to call the police on us for breaking and entering.”

“Are we going to break in?” Karkat asked, nervous. 

“Of course we are,” Dave said, shrugging to hide his discomfort. “I didn’t come all this way to stare at the outside of the house.”

“Okay,” Karkat agreed, sighing internally as he pondered his first big law-breaking spree. Did the law-breaking really count if the house he broke into was Dave’s? Karkat ignored the thought to follow Dave up to the front door.

The steps groaned under them. The porch was covered in pollen and dust the tracks of a stray cat lingered in the grime as Dave squinted at the sign.

**‘KEEP OUT,’** the posted sign read. **‘PRIVATE PROPERTY. VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED.’**

“I wonder who owns it now,” Dave said, easily breaking the steel lock with nothing but his fingers in a display of quiet strength that took Karkat’s breath away. He opened the door with trepidation. The hinges creaked. 

The inside of the house was dark, as was expected. The unexpected thing was that the lights flickered on when Dave tried the switch on the wall. 

“Someone’s been paying the electric bill,” Dave said, confused. He switched the lights off again and the short hallway was plunged into darkness. 

The house wasn’t in the best of conditions. It had been 15 years after all. Someone had come through and cleaned up the entire thing. There were no coats on the coat rack or shoes by the door. The pantry was empty of cracker boxes and instant potatoes. The house stood empty of all the things that made it a home. 

Dave drifted through the house like a ghost. Sometimes he’d stop to touch certain things, like the latch to the china drawer, all of the dishes still neatly displayed behind glass. Or he’d run his fingertips across the flowered wall paper with an unreadable expression on his face. He clearly knew where he was and how best to move around the house’s confusing layout in the darkness. He hunted through the bottom floor of the house with a hunger, clearly searching for something that made him pause when he entered a short hallway, Karkat a half-step behind him. 

“What is it?” Karkat asked. 

Dave was staring down at the floor, and that’s when Karkat noticed that the carpet had been ripped out.

His stomach hit his feet in a sickening lurch. There was only one reason why they’d rip out the carpet when the rest of the house had been untouched, and Karkat had to remind himself that two people had been murdered here. 

“This is where they got him,” Dave said, his voice quiet. “I guess he heard the intruders downstairs and came down to check it out. This is where they killed my dad.”

It was hard for Karkat to stand there and watch as Dave put the pieces together as he traveled through the old crime scene, holding Karkat’s hand tight enough that the bones were aching. 

Dave jumped up the stairs, taking them two at a time, filled with a swirling energy that Karkat couldn’t name. He turned right at a plain wooden door, the letters painted across it still heartbreakingly legible in blue, childish letters. 

“DAVES ROOM.”

Dave put his hand on the door but didn’t open it, too busy scouting for more clues. 

Karkat stared at the door with his heart in his throat, imagining a six year old Dave painting out his name in blue. It hit him all at once, the pain, the sinking realization of what exactly Dave was hunting for. Karkat looked at the door to Dave’s childhood bedroom, proof that every faulty memory Dave had was rooted in truth.

“This way,” Dave said, rushed as he continued down the hall to an area past a second door labeled, “rose’s room’ that Dave stopped to touch, as if to make sure the door was real as his fingers traced the pale pink letters. 

Karkat felt like crying. 

“I got here first,” Dave said tonelessly. “I heard something happening downstairs and I got scared and ran out into the hallway. Mom told me to take Rose and run, hide. She stayed behind to fight them off,” He said, staring at there the wallpaper had been peeled back to reveal the bones of the house, every stain scrubbed clean. “I heard it happen.”

“Dave…” Karkat tried to say something, anything, anything to make this easier but the words stuck in his throat. 

Dave turned to look at him, the movement slow, a single tear tracking its way down his chin. 

Karkat hugged him tightly, burying his face against Dave’s chest as it heaved with a withheld sob, the demon shaking. 

Dave would have crumpled if Karkat hadn’t held him upright, dragging him back so that the demon could cling to him. He would have held onto Dave forever if he had to. 

Dave struggled to pull himself together. “I… I have to check something,” he said, his voice wobbly. “It’s this way.”

Karkat held onto Dave tightly as he floundered down the hall on unsteady legs. They ended up in a laundry room, the air choking with old dust. 

“Karkat,” Dave said, gasping. “I need you to do something for me.”

Anything. Dave could have asked for the world and Karkat would have started planning the revolution just so he could hand it over. “What is it?” Karkat asked. 

“You see the dryer?” Dave asked, still shaking. “Open it.” He said, his voice clipped and short. He looked away like he couldn’t bear to watch. 

Karkat turned to the old appliance, its white face coated in dust. He opened the door and peered inside the dark hole that appeared. “It’s empty.”

“Are you sure?” Dave asked, sounding faint. 

“I’m sure,” Karkat said, reaching inside to feel around the smooth bare surface of the dryer. There was nothing there, not even old clothes. “See?”

Dave visibly relaxed with relief, exhaling the breath he’d been holding. “Okay,” he said, nodding bonelessly. “Let’s get out of here before the cops show up.”

“Are you sure?” Karkat asked. 

“I’m sure,” Dave said, shaking. “Besides, we can always come back later today if we need to.”

“Okay,” Karkat relented, leading the demon back downstairs. It was probably for the best if they disappeared for the next few hours to lay low. 

They left the house. Dave couldn’t get the door to close again with the lock broken, so they left it cracked and got in the van. Dave put his head in his hands as Karkat backed out of the driveway and drove off.

“Are you okay?” Karkat asked, concerned. 

“Just give me a minute,” Dave gasped out. “I’ll be okay.”

The promise didn’t make Karkat feel any better as they drove past a lone cop car that was driving opposite to them, heading in the direction of the house they’d broken into. Shit. 

Karkat kept his eyes fixed ahead on the road, spying on the police car until it turned out of sight, slowly, like it was considering turning around after his very identifiable van. God, his heart was pounding with a mixture of pity and fear. Why couldn’t he have just rented a normal car? 

Dave slowly slouched back upright, wiping at his eyes beneath his shades. Karkat drove back into town to hide amongst the other vehicles, feeling guilty as in his head Kankri berated him from running from the law even if that’s not technically what he did, even though he was sure the cop was going to check out the house they’d literally just finished breaking into. 

Fuck. 

Now Karkat was a criminal. Shit. The things he was willing to do for Dave…

“What now?” Karkat asked, ready to do whatever Dave asked. 

Dave sobered up, blinking away tears. “To the library first,” he said. “I want to check their records before we get involved with police.”

“Speaking of which,” Karkat mentioned, hunting down the library address in his phone. “We just passed a cop. I’m pretty sure they were going to check out your house.”

“I knew the neighbors would call the cops on us,” Dave said, shrugging. “We broke into a house in broad daylight.”

“Still,” Karkat said, his hands tight on the steering wheel. “Do you think talking to the cops is a good idea?”

“Absolutely not,” Dave said, shuddering. “But I don’t have any other ideas.”

“True,” Karkat said pulling into the small public library as he tried to figure out how in the hell they were going to ask about the old crime without arousing the suspicions of the workers. 

The gray building was drab and crammed between a Burger King and the post office but the door was welcoming and propped open with an old concrete bookend. 

Karkat drug Dave along behind him, the demon dragging his feet. “Come on,” Karkat said, tugging at him. “Nothing’s going to happen.”

The desk worker smiled at them with obvious confusion when she spotted Karkat and Dave. “Hello,” she said. “How can I help you?”

“Uh,” Karkat said, cutting his eyes at a non-verbal Dave. “We were hoping to do some research on an old event that happened here.”

“Are you a member?” she asked, still smiling stiffly. “Only members have access to the records.”

“But this is a public library,” Karkat argued, confused. “What the f… heck, do we need a membership for?” he said, struggling not to curse at what had to be a local high school student.

She shrugged. “That’s the rules,” she said, shaking her head, staring curiously at Dave, who even sulking and unwilling to be seen drew all eyes to him like a magnet.

The demon lifted the hood of his hoodie over his head to hide his white hair. It didn’t help much. 

“Fine,” Karkat said through gritted teeth. “How do I become a member?”

Fifteen minutes later Karkat held a shiny new library card that he would never use again after this day. He hated it with a burning passion, but if this card is what got him into the records then fuck it, he’d hold the card with pride. 

Dave followed after him and they spent the next two hours combing through the library’s records of the day it had happened. They found newspapers, transcribed interviews, the obituaries. But… all of the details had been erased- the names removed, faces blacked out. Not one mention of children were found, but Karkat had been in the house; he knew that Dave and his sister had also been in that house, so why the infuriating lack of detail?

“What do you want to do now?” Karkat asked. 

Dave rubbed at his tired eyes beneath his shades. “I want to find my sister,” he said, his voice unflinching. “The cops know what happened to her after… after they took me. They’ll know.”

Karkat sat back and stared at the newspapers scattered across the table he’d stolen, thousands and thousands of words without a single answer in them. “Okay,” he relented, starting to gather up the records to put everything away again. “We’ll go to the cops.”

“But,” Dave said, standing up and stretching. He yawned, tired in the daylight. “If they start asking questions, I’m out.”

“That’s fair,” Karkat said, knowing how unimaginably hard this must be for the Incubus. “But how do you plan to ask questions about your parents without raising suspicions?”

“I have no idea,” Dave said, laughing nervously. “Let’s just go. We’ll figure it out.”

“Lunch first,” Karkat decided. “You need food and we both need a break.”

“Fine,” Dave relented, jumping up with relief at the prospect of more food. Karkat filed the information away, counting back the days with a frown and wondering if Dave was hiding anything darker beneath his shades. 

Karkat felt bad. He should be more vigilant about this, especially if Dave was going to refuse to inform him of when he was feeling hungry like the overly-secretive asshole he was. 

The got takeout and ate it in the spacious back of the van. The seats had been removed and left a lot of empty space in the back. Karkat watched Dave closely as the demon devoured his Chinese noodles, trying to hide his growing worry.

Karkat let Dave freely waste as much time as he wanted after lunch, sightseeing what there was to see in such a small town. Karkat saw notable landmarks such as a hairdresser’s place and a doughnut shop and for once was thankful that he grew up in a large city.

The sun as just beginning to set when at last Dave gave in and shot Karkat a knowing glance. “Let’s go.” 

The police station was just down the road. It was a short drive and Dave’s hands didn’t stop shaking the entire time as he drummed out a flat, dull rhythm against the dashboard, his fingers tight with nervousness. 

Karkat pulled into the police guest lot and swallowed thickly. “Are you sure you want to do this?” He asked. 

“Not even a little,” Dave said lightly, trying to make his tone joking but falling short. “In fact the last thing I want to do is walk in there.”

“But?” Karkat prompted, hearing his hesitation. 

Dave’s shoulders slumped with resignation. “But I want to find my sister,” he sighed and the drumming stopped. His shaded eyes looked past Karkat to the squat building behind him. “They have the answers I’m looking for.”

Karkat looked at the squat office building, painted sky blue. There was a welcoming sign in the window and several squad cars in the lot. Honestly it didn’t look very intimidating. They could do this. “Alright,” Karkat promised, taking his hand. “I’ll be right with you the whole time.”

Dave squeezed his fingers back reassuringly before he dropped Karkat’s hand and straightened his shoulders. 

Karkat opened the door and walked into the police station. A little bell rang merrily above him as the door opened. A uniformed officer sat behind a desk, her face youthful and unlined. A green Fae-mark covered her left eye in the colors of the forest and dusted olive across her fine skin, tracking back across her face to obscure one ear in an eyepatch made of color. “Hello,” she said brightly. “How may I help…” she trailed off as she caught sight of Dave and the demon instantly went tense. “…you,” she finished lamely, her eyes widening. 

“I just had some questions I wanted to ask,” Karkat said, stepping forward, angling his body slightly to shield Dave from sight as best he could. 

“Do you want to report a crime?” The officer asked, trying to hurriedly type something on her cellphone beneath the desk without them noticing. 

“No,” Karkat said, swallowing, instantly suspicious. He tried to be delicate. “It’s about something that happened here years ago.”

“Here?” The officer asked, her eyebrows shooting up with feinted interest, shockingly unsurprised. 

Karkat got the distinct impression that she was stalling for time. He didn’t like it. “Yes, here,” he said. “Is there someone we can talk to who might know about an old case that happened here?”

Dave still hadn’t said anything. He was quiet behind Karkat’s back, hunched down to appear shorter. His pale hair shone under the white lights damningly bright. 

“How long ago did the case happen?” She asked. “So that I can ask around to see if anybody knows anything.”

“Fifteen years,” Karkat said, and the officer was still unsurprised. She’d been expecting his answer. _She knew._

Dave picked up on that fact as well and he nudged Karkat with his elbow, the touch gentle and light in a way that betrayed his anxiety. 

“Okay, hold on just a moment,” she said, still typing away on her phone, her face unreadable. “I’ll get someone with you in just a minute.”

Karkat made to take a seat in the waiting area but was stopped by Dave. 

“She’s been stalling,” the demon whispered into his ear. 

“I know,” Karkat said back, as quietly as possible. 

The Incubus tittered, swaying with nerves. “I don’t like this,” he whispered. “She’s calling someone.”

“Duh,” Karkat answered, shooting the officer a suspicious look as she frantically typed away at her phone. “Isn’t that the point though?”

“I don’t know if I can do this,” Dave breathed, nearly vibrating. 

His heart gave a sharp pang of sympathy for the demon. Maybe this wasn’t the best of ideas, not if it stressed Dave out this much. 

A side door burst open before Karkat could answer, an older officer all but falling into the room in his haste to get through the door. 

The suddenness of the entry spooked Dave, the noise of the door banging against the wall made him flinch back in alarm. Karkat reached reassuringly for his hand, sensing how freaked the demon was. Dave was past the point of being on edge. 

The new officer blinked at the pair of them, his eyes blown wide as he sought out the demon at Karkat’s side. The policewoman watched them with an expectant expression, the ghost of a smile on her face. Karkat could feel Dave’s breathing heighten as he squeezed back Karkat’s hand hard enough to hurt.

The officer was still staring at Dave with an incredulous expression as he said just one word. “Dave?”

Dave fucking _bolted_. He vanished, running out of the room so fast that his body left an afterimage in the air behind him where he’d been. Karkat’s hand felt cold at the sudden loss of body temperature. The little bell rang merrily as the front door swung shut behind him, the demon somehow having crossed the entirety of the floor and disappeared from sight in a single blinding second of speed. 

Karkat was astounded. He’d had no idea Dave could move that fast.

The officer made a move to stop Dave, but his arm drifted back to his side as he sputtered wordlessly at the empty space the demon had left behind. The policewoman stood up in shock, peering around like Dave had ducked behind a potted plant in the corner and was hiding just out of sight.

“I didn’t mean-” the officer began, sputtering.

“Hold on,” Karkat interrupted, his heart pounding. “I’ll go after him.”

Karkat ran out the building before the officer could stop him, panting hard as he ran. 

He found Dave beside the van, his face in his hands, gasping for breath. Karkat skidded to a stop beside him. “Dave?”

Dave didn’t answer, but he crumpled into Karkat’s embrace when he reached out to him, grabbing at him and holding on tightly. “I can’t do this,” he said, his voice shaking. “Oh God, I can’t do this. Fuck!”

“Shhh, it’s okay,” Karkat murmured, stroking his hair. “Dave? It’s okay. I’m here.”

“I know,” Dave said, burying his face into Karkat’s shirt. “Thank you for bringing me here, Karkat, but I can’t. Please, I _can’t._ Don’t make me go back in there.”

Pity welled up inside him, flowing in on wings made of compassion. “Okay, okay, you don’t have to,” Karkat answered, hugging him, instantly scrapping his plan to convince Dave to go back inside as he unlocked the van. “Let’s get out of here.”

Dave collapsed into the passenger seat with relief. Karkat held his hand and drove one-armed as he put the police station in his rear view mirror and drove until the building was out of sight. Dave slowly stopped shaking the more distance Karkat put between them and the police. 

“Dave?” Karkat tried quietly, probing. “You know what this means, right?”

“I know,” Dave answered tightly. “They know my name. They know who I am. That means they know what happened.”

“So they know Rose,” Karkat pressed urgently, aware that they were driving away from the very answers they’d been hunting all day. “They can help us find her.”

“I can’t go back there,” Dave said at once, vigorously shaking his head. “We can call in or something, anything, just I… I can’t walk back into that place. Not right now. Not like this.” He said, punctuating his words with another full-body shudder so hard that his teeth rattled together. “I’m freaking out,” he said, gasping. “I think I’m having a panic attack or something.”

“Uh,” Karkat said, fishing for a distraction. “Breathe. Focus on breathing. Think of something else.”

“Like what?” Dave asked, his teeth chattering. 

“Tell me how you moved that fast,” Karkat said. “I saw you break a thick steel lock earlier today and now you’re some kind of speedster? What the fuck’s up with that?”

Dave laughed humorlessly. “It’s a demon thing,” he said dully. 

“My sisters can’t do any of that, so try again,” Karkat said. 

“It’s an Incubus thing,” Dave answered, unwilling, but he did sound calmer as Karkat pestered him. “Speed and strength are easy for me.”

“I can fucking see that,” Karkat said, huffing. Dave had moved so fast he’d fucking blurred. It was unreal. 

Dave smiled grimly, but his expression was lighter, his face calmer as his breathing steadied.

That was when the red and blue lights flickered into existence behind Karkat’s van.

“ _Shit!_ ” Dave said, instantly panicked as the squad car pulled up behind Karkat. 

Karkat hit the brakes on reflex and put his blinker on, his mind racing. “It’s okay,” he said. “Of course they came after us after how we left like that,” he rationalized. 

“Shit, shit shit shit fuckshit shit,” Dave was saying as he unbuckled himself to fling his body into the back of the van, trying to hide. 

“Dave,” Karkat said as he pulled over onto the side of the road. “That’s not going to work.”

Dave set his back against Karkat’s seat and said, “I’m not here, okay?”

Karkat sighed and reached back to give Dave’s shoulder a comforting squeeze before he obediently cut the van off, knowing how ridiculous this situation was. 

The officer approached his window. It was a different man, older, gray-haired. He walked slow and steady. Karkat rolled the window down for him, bracing himself.

“License and registration please,” the officer said, shining a flashlight into the van. The conspicuously empty passenger seat sat out like a sore thumb at the corner of Karkat’s vision. He tried not to stare at it.

Surprised, Karkat mechanically fished out his wallet and the registration from the center console and handed them over.

The officer barley glanced at the cards and paperwork as he shone the light through the back windows of the van. “Can you step out of the vehicle for a moment?” He asked, his voice gentle.

Karkat wished that Dave could pick up on comforting thoughts as well, because he could physically feel the demon silently panicking behind him as Karkat opened the door and got out of the van. He left the door open so that Dave could hear them speaking.

“Karkat Vantas?” The officer asked, reading his name off the driver’s license. 

“That’s me,” Karkat answered, his voice unflinching. 

“Listen, Karkat, do you know why I pulled you over?” The officer asked, still soft and gentle, like how one would speak when trying not to spook a wild animal.

“Probably,” Karkat said truthfully.

“Was that you at the station just then?” The man asked.

Karkat nodded, knowing that he was damning himself and Dave but what else could he do? Lie to the cops? Bad idea.

The officer shone his flashlight back into the van, lighting on the empty passenger seat. “Is there anyone else with you?” He asked knowingly. 

Karkat swallowed hard. The movement hurt as it moved past the lump in his throat. “Yessir, officer, there is,” he answered truthfully. 

“Uh huh,” the man said, nodding to himself. “Can you ask him to come out?”

. Karkat’s mind snagged on the word. The officer _knew_. 

Karkat looked at the officer, taking in his stance, his uniform, the look on his face. If there was one thing Karkat could do right it was judge people, and while he stood on the side of that side road in the middle of nowhere at twilight, Karkat judged the fuck out of that police officer’s very soul. His eyes missed nothing. His dad would have been proud. 

The officer passed Karkat’s internal assessment. He seemed like a good enough man to be gentle. 

Karkat stared at him. “Go easy on him. Please,” Karkat pleaded. “He’s just scared and he’s been through a lot.” 

“Don’t worry son, I will be,” the officer told him seriously, his eyes locked on the unmoving van. “I’ve been waiting years for this day.”

That wasn’t the most reassuring thing for Karkat to hear, but something about the man made it seem okay. Karkat sighed, steeling himself, and then walked over and ducked back into the van, his hands instinctively reaching for the darkness behind his seat. “Dave?” 

He encountered nothing but warm fabric. Dave was sitting with his back to the driver’s seat, his knees drawn up to his chest. Karkat could hear him panting and sympathy made his own breath catch in his throat. “It’s alright,” he said, crawling deeper into the back of the van. “You can come out. It’s safe.”

Dave wordlessly reached for him, his pale hands milk-white in the darkness as Karkat grabbed the offered hands to pull Dave out from behind the car seat. The demon emerged slowly, hesitant and wary, the flashing blue and red lights washing out what little color there was to his skin. His hood was up, his sunglasses in place even through the sun had finished setting and it was nighttime now. He stood beside Karkat, his hand shielding his face from the squad car’s flashing lights. 

“Can you lower your hood for me son?” The officer asked, nice and steady. 

Dave hesitated, but he obediently lowered the hood on his hoodie. His white hair shone in the darkness against his pale skin, his limber, lithe frame nearly a full head taller than Karkat. Anyone with three functioning brain cells and a Wikipedia page’s knowledge about Incubi could have guessed that Dave was one of them. Even with his eyes covered. _Especially_ with his eyes covered. What else but Daemon kind would wear sunglasses at night? 

“It’s Dave, isn’t it?” The officer asked softly, peering intently at the demon. 

Dave wordlessly nodded, just a dip of his chin. 

The policeman let out an exhale of relief, his shoulders going limp with it. “We’ve got a missing person’s case with your name on it,” he said, and he was smiling, and he stepped forward to come closer until Dave stepped back to avoid him. “A lot of good people have been looking for you for years.”

“Well… here I am,” Dave said softly, and he took Karkat’s hand. It felt momentous, like the significance of this single moment would be seared into Karkat’s memory forever as Dave said. “Now what happens?”

“I think the station will have a few questions for you,” the man said, nodding. “And there’s some people I need to get in touch with.”

“How does that happen?” Dave asked, curious, starting to relax in inestimable amounts. 

“Tomorrow,” the officer decided, looking up at the stars. “It’s late now. Everything bothersome can wait until tomorrow- you two should go get some sleep tonight.”

“Thank you,” Dave said, relieved. 

“Just be at the station in the morning,” the officer said. He looked so excited that Karkat almost thought he’d try to hug the demon, but Dave’s reluctance to come closer kept him from trying. “I’ll go let everybody know.”

Dave stiffened at that, but he said nothing as the man got back into his cop car, waved, and then pulled away.

With the flashing lights gone the night looked much darker than it had before as Karkat turned to Dave, beaming. 

The demon looked like he was going to throw up from stress, but there was the ghost of a smile hiding there as well. “Shit,” he said, shuddering. “That was the worst thing I’ve had to deal with in years.”

Karkat felt electrified. They’d done it. _They’d done it_! Tomorrow would be the answer to all of the questions he could think to ask. He was certain one of the people the officer would tell was Rose herself. Would she be there in the morning, either in person or on the phone?

“Let’s get back to the hotel,” Karkat said, jittering with excitement. 

Dave jumped back into the van, crawling over the center console to reach his seat. “Fuck,” he said, laughing nervously. “We did it.”

“We did it,” Karkat agreed, and they went back to the hotel in triumph, the bass beat of Dave’s music pounding through his blood the entire way as Dave jacked up the radio volume. For once the sound of it didn’t hurt Karkat’s ears. 

There was nothing that could bother him right now. He was untouchable, because they’d done the impossible and everything was going to be alright.  
…

 

Sleep left him feeling slow and fuzzy. Karkat wasn’t sure what had woken him. He made to turn around, to reach for Dave, and he found the demon ridged beside him in the narrow hotel bed. 

“Don’t move,” Dave warned in a hoarse whisper.

Karkat froze at the warning in his voice, instinctive fear filling him at the feeling of eyes on his skin. The room was dark, Dave was a burning heat at his back. The air conditioner was running full blast and the room was sweltering. 

Karkat could almost taste the magic in the air, the lightning buzz of eyes across him. _Someone was trying to scry them._

Wordlessly Dave spread his arms over Karkat, pulling him close to his chest as he yanked the light blanket up over them. Karkat could hear the demon’s heart pounding. Fuck, his own heart was pounding. Who could be trying to use magic to spy on them? What spellcaster had they tipped off?

“Shhh,” Dave hissed with a quiet whisper. “It’ll pass soon.”

The feeling intensified to an almost painful degree of awareness as the darkness pressed in on the pair of them. Karkat barely dared to breathe. 

The buzz of magic was slow to fade. Karkat’s skin itched with the force of a million ants under the unfamiliar sensation. He hated it. He wanted to rip at his skin with his nails to get rid of the feeling. The back of his neck tingled like someone was standing right behind him even though the room was empty. 

Dave shifted uncomfortably, his shoulders rolling as he held Karkat as close to him as possible. Even after the last of the magic had faded he was slow to let go of Karkat.

“What the fuck was that?” Karkat asked, hoarse as he clung to Dave.

“A magician,” Dave answered darkly, frowning. His shades were off and his eyes were like twin drops of blood. The loss of his shades made his face look oddly vulnerable as he said, “Something tells me that the police station here didn’t order a spellcaster to look for us, not after we agreed to show up in the morning.”

“What are you thinking?” Karkat asked, his gut sinking as he thought the same thing.

“There’s a rat in them,” Dave said cursing under his breath with frustration. “One of them must have tipped off the guys that are after me.”

Karkat knew that he meant the other guys that were looking for him. The bad ones. The ones like the psychic that had left a ring of bruises around his neck that had lingered for days and populated the nightmares that Dave still wouldn’t tell Karkat about. 

“So tomorrow might be a trap,” Dave concluded, his expression unchanging. But his eyes revealed the truth- he was fucking _devastated._

“Dave, no,” Karkat murmured, embracing him and embracing his hope all at once. “It might not be a trap.”

“Can we risk it if it is?” Dave argued back, shaking his head. “Karkat, listen-”

“I know,” Karkat said, not wanting to admit it but knowing all the same. “So what do we do?”

Dave didn’t hesitate. “We don’t show up tomorrow,” he said. “We let things cool down first, then we come back when they’re not expecting us. That way we don’t walk head-first into a trap.”

That seemed like a fair compromise. “Alright,” Karkat relented, hating to be so close and so far from the finish line. Would they ever find their answers? Would Dave ever be free? “We can leave early in the morning,” he said. “They won’t even know we’re gone until it’s too late.”

Dave grinned grimly. “At least they failed,” he said, smirking lightly to himself as he held up something small and metal. 

“What’s that?” Karkat asked, looking at the riveted shield he held. 

“Anti-scrying charm,” Dave answered smugly. “I picked it up from the Midnight Crew last week just in case.” Dave wound his arms around Karkat, warm and comforting in a way that erased the lingering discomfort left over from the attack of the scrying magic. He pressed his lips to the edge of Karkat’s jaw and Karkat turned around to meet him, still shaken up as he scooted as close to the demon as he could manage. The alarm clock on the bedside table read 2:48 am.

“Go back to sleep,” Dave whispered comfortingly. “I won’t let anything happen.”

“Alright,” Karkat answered, yawning as his heartbeat slowed. His eyelids drooped as Dave pocketed the small charm again. The wear of the day pressed in on him, and he went back to sleep with the steady pressure of Dave’s gently rising and falling chest beneath him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now we're getting places! the plot is closing in and it will be _glorious_


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> new chapter!
> 
> warning, its.............. nsfw ;)

They left early in the morning. The van was refueled and they hit the road. Karkat regretted leaving the town so soon, but Dave was adamant about it. “We’ll come back,” the Incubus promised, not quite looking at him. “I’m not done with this place yet.”

Karkat kept his eyes on the road. “I know,” he said tightly, then hesitantly. “You know we’re leaving behind the answers you’re searching for.”

“I know,” Dave admitted. “But I’d rather leave safe with you then have answers and something bad have happened.”

“Okay,” Karkat relented, and Dave fell silent as the road took hold of them.

This time, the demon didn’t sleep away the day. He stayed awake with Karkat for the entirety of the drive, scrolling through the radio as they drove in and out of range of the different radio stations. He made a game out of it, to see which station was the most unbearable. Karkat’s ears could barely take it. 

It was in the third hour that it happened. Karkat felt the hairs at the back of his neck prickle, rising up. Gooseflesh broke out along his arms as the magic washed over him. It felt like wasps were crawling over his skin. He had to fight to resist the urge to tear at them with his nails. 

“Shit!” Dave cursed, grabbing at him with the anti-scrying charm clenched in his fist. “Not again!”

Karkat forced his focus back to the highway before him, trusting Dave to ward them appropriately as the scrying magic took its toll. If faded slower this time, not so easily persuaded that there was nothing here to see. At last the magic drained away and left the van feeling emptier than before. 

“What the fuck?” Karkat let out the breath he’d been holding, his fingers tight on the steering wheel. 

Dave released his grip on Karkat’s arm slowly, a stillness across his marble features. “They must have tried again after we didn’t show up,” he said, huffing. “Now I know I was right.”

Karkat thought about it. One scry to try and find them now made sense and highlighted the one last night as suspicious. Had Dave been right? Was the entire thing a trap?

“I’m sorry, Dave,” Karkat admitted. “You were right.”

“I tend to be,” Dave said trying for joking but he was too shaken up to pull it off. The tone fell flat between them and lay there in the silence like a busted tire. There’d be no carrying on this conversation. Rip. 

“Dave?” Karkat said anyway. 

“What?” The Incubus said, returning to his position of moping out the window as a Spanish rap channel played on the radio, buzzing with static. 

“We will find your sister,” he promised. Dave’s fingers stopped their tapping and fell still. “Rose is out there somewhere,” Karkat vowed, sealing the promise away in his heart. “And we will find her.”

There it was, the ghost of a smile of Dave’s face just wide enough to turn his lips up. “I know,” he said silently, and then he started out the window again as the hills raced past them.  
…

They made it home by sunset. 

Karkat texted Kanaya and Dad to let them know he was back as he unloaded the van in the back of the church. 

Dave was yawning, utterly exhausted by the long sleepless drive. Karkat wasn’t much better off. His body had resumed it’s desires to become one big knot of muscle and everything in him ached with stiffness.

Dave picked up his overnight bag and Karkat’s. “You know,” he said. “Why don’t you come over to my place? We can eat there tonight.”

Karkat just wanted to get somewhere he could lie down and forget about how long he’d spent on the road. “Fine,” he said, huffing, groaning nearly at the screaming from his sore shoulders as he bent over to pick up his other travel bag. 

They took the bus over to Dave’s apartment building. Karkat had these hallways memorized. He could have walked them blindfolded as long as Dave was waiting for him at the other end. 

They ate microwaved mac and cheese and slightly brown apples scrounged from the depths of Dave’s pantry. It wasn’t a 5-star meal but to Karkat it was the greatest thing he’d had in days. He blinked, utterly done in by the long day. 

Karkat eyed the couch with hope. He still had his bags with him and he was already dreading the lonely bus ride back to his apartment. 

Dave caught on quickly, bless him. “You know,” he said, suddenly shy. “You can sleep over here tonight.”

Karkat gave him a look, not wanting to intrude. “Are you sure?” He asked, equally as nervous. He’d napped on the couch before but he’d never stayed the night at Dave’s apartment. It was always Dave that stayed with him. The Incubi’s apartment was his lair, his stronghold. Karkat knew that Dave didn’t invite just anybody over to his place. 

“I’m sure,” Dave answered, smiling reassuringly at him. “Here, come on,” Dave said, tugging at him. “I won’t make you use the couch if you don’t want to, not when I have a perfectly good bed on hand.”

“I know,” Karkat said, his mouth running ahead before his brain could catch up. “I’ve seen it before. It’s a nice bed.”

Dave snorted with laughter, chortling. “You need sleep,” he announced, corralling Karkat into his bedroom. “This is a mandatory intervention, Karkat. I’m punching in a full twelve hours of restful sleep and I fully expect you to do the same.”

Karkat couldn’t help himself. He pulled Dave down into a kiss just to shut him up. The demon tasted sweet, like the apples he’d eaten core an all. 

Dave responded eagerly, cupping his face.

Karkat pulled away before the kiss could go too far, then changed his mind and pulled Dave flush against his body. Dave reacted to that, licking deeper into his mouth as Karkat felt the bedroom door at his back, pressing against shoulder blades that suddenly didn’t seem that sore anymore. 

He laced his fingers through Dave’s pale hair, toing with the arm of his shades until Dave complied and pulled them off. Karkat held his breath while he studied Dave’s bare face, careful not to look directly into his scarlet gaze. There weren’t any hunger stains hiding around his eyes, but the skin did look blueish with a worrisome tint to it, a promise of darkness to come. 

Karkat sighed and traced the marks with his thumb. “Dave, you’ve got to tell me when you’re feeling hungry.”

“We just ate,” Dave said lamely, the deflection weak. 

“You know that’s not what I mean,” Karkat gently chastised, kissing him again as Dave put his glasses back on. Karkat let him, unwilling to push the subject when he knew Dave wasn’t comfortable without them on. 

Dave reached behind him to flick off the lights, grinning, his teeth flashing in the new dark of the room.

“Show off,” Karkat accused, feeling his way across Dave’s skin with his hands before the demon disappeared, drawing backwards into the shadow of his room. “Not all of us can see in the dark, you know.” Karkat complained, grabbing for Dave but finding nothing but air. His fingers slipped through emptiness. Dave had vanished. 

He wasn’t worried. Whatever game Dave was playing, he could take. Karkat cautiously walked forward until his shins hit the bed, and then he crawled into it, the springs groaning under his weight. 

Dave joined him in a whisper, sliding next to him soundlessly before he hit the bedside lamp and dialed back the light until its warm glow wasn’t so blinding. “Better?” Dave asked, cocky. 

Karkat reached for him again and this time his hands touched warm skin. The demon had already shed his shirt and his bare chest was a comfort. “Better,” Karkat agreed, already thinking of ways to repay the demon for the massage he’d given the night before. 

“You’re thinking about something,” Dave pointed out, the bastard. “What is it?”

Karkat rolled his eyes and didn’t answer, instead thinking of exactly what he wanted to do to the demon, lingering over the delicious flashes his imagination provided. 

He heard Dave suck in his breath and felt a flash of triumph. He nuzzled closer to Dave and felt the demon swallow, his breath gone all shaky. 

“I’m… I’m down with that,” Dave said, his head falling back as Karkat kissed at his throat. 

“Are you sure?” Karkat worried, unable to reel in his inner turmoil. “I just want to make you feel as good as you’ve made me feel.”

Dave caught his hands and held them, kissing at his knuckles. “You have,” he answered. 

“But have I really?” Karkat said, still worried that he wasn’t pulling his weight in their relationship, or worse, that he was taking advantage of Dave. “You didn’t even get to finish when we first had sex.” The guilt in his voice was apparent and Dave sat upright.

“Karkat, no,” Dave whispered soothingly. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Bu I feel like I did,” Karkat confessed, falling still. 

“Wait, aw, shit,” Dave cursed, drawing back from him. The space between them burned like a wound. “This is my fault,” Dave said, shaking his head. “I should have explained this to you sooner.”

“Explained what?” Karkat asked, feeling so inferior to the sex demon that any attempt to try and bridge that gap was laughable. Who did he think he was? How dare Karkat think that his needy ass would be fucking enough for someone as put together and worldly as Dave. 

This was what he got for _assuming_ things, wasn’t it? How dare he believe that everything would work itself out when clearly Karkat was the one lacking in their relationship, not Dave. 

“Karkat,” Dave aid, drawing him out of his own dark thoughts. “Incubi- we don’t work like that.”

“Like what?” Karkat asked, feeling dumb now. “You mentioned something like this before, but I don’t know what you fucking mean.”

“It’s dumb, number one,” Dave said. “Number two is… well, like, its fucking weird and specific and I didn’t want to scare you away.”

“So it’s super kinky,” Karkat said, shrugging. “It’s okay. I can take it.”

“It’s not a kink thing,” Dave said, frustrated and trying not to show it. Karkat sharpened his focus in response to the change in tone. 

“Then what the hell is it?” Karkat asked, feeling like it was a _him_ thing, like he wasn’t enough. 

Dave laid back down, facing him. His face was inscrutable. “Tell me,” he said. “Do you believe in soulmates?”

Karkat bit back his instinctive sarcastic reply at the Incubus’s serious tone. He pondered the question, but he didn’t need to think for long. After the Terezi disaster he’d given this topic quite a lot of thought, and he had his answer ready.

“No,” he said, slow and decisive. “I believe in a lot of things, but not soulmates. Not in the way that you’re probably describing.”

For such a romanticist, Karkat was surprisingly blunt when it came to soulmates. He believed in the power of romance, not destiny-decided ordained bullshit. 

“Oh,” Dave said, surprised. “Then how would you describe it?”

“The theory of soulmates or what I personally believe in?” Karkat asked to clarify. 

“What you believe,” Dave said. “That’s what I’m interested in.”

Karkat considered the demon before speaking. “I believe that love is a choice,” he said. “That’s why I have such a problem with the traditional idea of soulmates- they take away choice. Its mindless attraction, nothing more.” He knew he was on thin ice about the mindless attraction bit, especially when he was speaking to an Incubus, but it had to be said. “That’s never been what I wanted. When I pictured finding someone that I really connected with, it’s always been because that’s what _I_ wanted. _I_ made that choice and no fate bullshit gets to take that away from me.”

“Strong words for a preacher’s son,” Dave quipped. “I thought you were all about that higher power?”

“I am,” Karkat answered confidently. “But I believe in free will as well.”

“So?” Dave prompted eagerly. “I’m intrigued. How far down the rabbit hole does your theory go?”

“All the way,” Karkat replied, grinning. “I think the best working definition I have is that my version of soulmates takes work. Like they’re out there, they do exist with all of the magical romance bullshit that they empower and symbolize, but it’s got to be a choice and there’s no magical love button that gets hit that says ‘ _hey asshole, that’s your fucking soulmate right there_ ’ and then suddenly everything is peachy and perfect just because they found each other.”

“So you do believe in them,” Dave said, relaxed and grinning. 

“Of course I believe in soulmates,” Karkat scoffed, “Just not the Hollywood version.” He eyed the demon with suspicion. “What does that matter right now?”

“Well,” Dave said, taking Karkat’s hand. The glow from the lamp cast golden shadows across his normally pale skin. “I believe in soulmates too,” he said gently. “Though there’s a little less freedom of choice in my version.”

“Why’s that?” Karkat asked, still suspicious. 

“Incubi, we go our whole lives moving from person to person, drifting through a sea of other people’s sexual fantasies because we have to in order to survive,” Dave said, and he wasn’t grinning anymore. His face was deadly serious as he said, “We’re aromantic out of self-defense. It’s a survival trait that our species can’t shake.”

Karkat nearly bit his tongue with trying not to butt in, sensing the demon wasn’t finished yet.

“So,” Dave said. “We feed mindlessly from other people, never lingering for longer than a few hours at most. It fucking sucks ass, but what can I do?” Dave shrugged helplessly. “If I don’t follow those rules, I’ll starve. I’ll wither and go insane and that’s only if I don’t slowly die first. It’s part of the reason people hate us so much. We exist to take from them what most consider shameful or sinful, and we get blamed for doing what’s natural for us even though it takes two to tango. We’re the ones that get punished.” Dave paused, his lower lip trembling. “That is the legacy of the Incubus demon- unattainable, unattached, and unloved.”

“No,” Karkat said, refusing to believe it. “That can’t be right.”

“It is,” Dave said, his voice certain. “I know it is, because _I’ve lived it_. That was what my life was like… and then I saw you.” Dave paused, gauging Karkat’s reaction, his won face dreamy. “You had this pissed off look on your face and enough baggage to suit a small country under your eyes and I couldn’t help but stare. I couldn’t look away. It was like you’d reached inside of me and grabbed hold of something from across the room, and this was before you even noticed me staring at you like some sort of creep.” Dave laughed, his voice breathless. Karkat’s heart was beating in his throat as Dave continued. “Then you looked at me and I just knew that you were the one.”

“Impossible,” Karkat said weakly. “I didn’t even like you at first.”

“I know,” Dave said, smiling gently at him. “That’s what cemented it for me. You were immune to my charms. You can be yourself around me. I… I don’t influence what you do or how you feel. Its amazing actually, that you can resist the magic that I can’t control.”

“Impossible,” Karkat said, louder this time. “You know I can’t control myself around you.”

Dave raised his eyebrows. “And yet here I am, shirtless and in bed after making out with you and all we’ve done so far is debate the finer points of the soulmate theory.”

Damn.

“Well,” Karkat began. “You’re the one that wanted my rundown.”

“What I wanted,” Dave said, “was to reassure you that you’ve been nothing but perfect to me ever since I met you.”

Fuck, his heart. This was too much.

“Tell me about your soulmate theory,” Karkat asked, scrambling to change the subject before he physically melted into a puddle of raw, pulsing emotions. “I want to know everything.”

Dave complied, still holding his hand. “Incubi each are born hungry. We’re incomplete. We spend our entire lives trying to find someone that can fill the emptiness inside us, someone who’s equipped to sate that hunger. For most that meeting never happens and they wander endlessly, alone. But sometimes fate smiles and an Incubus will meet someone they find compatible to them on a cellular level, and they just click together. Soulmates, cupid’s bows, twin souls, whatever the hell you want to call it, that’s what happens.”

“And you’re saying that we clicked?” Karkat asked, understanding. The pieces began to fall into place in his mind, everything that had happened. It was starting to make an odd sort of sense. 

“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Dave said, and he squeezed Karkat’s hand tightly and held it up to his heart.

Dave’s skin was warm underneath Karkat’s fingers. He could feel the demon’s heart beating and recognized the rhythm that Dave was always playing out, steady as a clock ticking. It filled him with a wonder. 

Dave let out a nervous, breathless chuckle. “In comparison, everyone else is junk food and you’re the stellar fuckin’ five course meal made only out of my favorite foods, lovingly hand-prepared by a personal chef catering to my specific and apparently highly picky taste because now all I’m down for is you.”

This was both great and too much all at the same time. Karkat didn’t know how to feel. “You think we’re soulmates?” He asked weakly. 

“I do,” Dave said, equally as quiet. His voice was just a whisper in the dark, low and husky. “How do you feel about that?”

“I feel…” Karkat railed off, trying to name the warm swirling he felt inside him. “I feel like I should kiss you now.”

Following through with his words, Karkat leaned in and closed the space between them. Dave’s fingers pressed into his back and drew Karkat closer to him.

Karkat lifted the corner of the comforter to peel the blanket back only to discover that the smug motherfucker owned silk sheets. Of fucking course he did.

Dave snickered and patted the mattress. “You like them?” He asked, like a bastard. 

“Fuck off,” Karkat grunted on autopilot, worming his way beneath the sheets. God, that silk did feel amazing against his legs and thighs. They were cool, slick, everything he’d dreamed of. 

“So,” Dave said, settling beside him with a warm sense of weight as Karkat felt the mattress dip towards him. “That’s why it’s a sex thing.”

Karkat hazarded a guess. “It needs to be with someone you feel safe with?”

“More like an actual committed relationship,” Dave answered softly. “Though I’m sure that’s a part of it as well.”

“Then,” Karkat said, reaching out to splay his hand across Dave’s bare chest. “Do you trust me?” He asked, his voice low. 

Dave drew in a shallow breath. “Yes,” he whispered, and Karkat kissed him in response. 

Karkat kissed him softly, sweetly, so gentle that he burned his lips with holding back. This wasn’t about him, this was all about Dave and Karkat was determined to see him through. If the Incubus needed a loving, committed relationship to get off, then that’s exactly what Karkat would provide. 

His shirt came off under Dave’s nimble hands, the buttons undone with gentle flicks of his fingertips. 

After that everything came in flashes. Him lightly nipping at Dave’s collarbone, the feeling of Dave beneath him, the subtle grinding that became more pronounced as the seconds passed. Karkat trailing his kisses up along Dave’s jaw to his earlobe, his breathing heavy. Somehow his other clothes vanished and left them both bare to the world beneath the blankets that were quickly getting shoved to the side. 

Dave arched his spine, slotting himself neatly against Karkat’s hips and the resulting wave of stimulation was something Karkat felt throughout his entire body. For a moment he was worried about failing to outlast Dave, but then the demon kissed him until he forgot everything that wasn’t their lips moving together. 

It was slow work. Karkat paid close attention to every part of Dave, and he noticed when at last Dave began to make his own noises. The demon was surprisingly quiet in bed and each drawn out groan was like a victory bell to Karkat. Dave had stopped simply reacting to him and began to actively explore himself, marveling at the new sensations. 

Karkat’s eyes were wide open, drinking in Dave’s face. This heat he felt was addictive and it was getting harder to ignore his own arousal as Dave pushed him closer to the edge. Karkat rolled his hips and watched the full-body jerk he drew out of Dave at the feeling, his toes curling.

“Oh fuck,” Dave groaned, falling apart. “Do that again.” His fingers were hard between Karkat’s shoulder blades as he held Karkat close, panting. 

Karkat eagerly complied, rolling his hips in a shallow thrust. Dave’s head fell back, his throat bared.

“Shit,” Dave said, his voice shaky as Karkat continued to rut against him. “God, Karkat, I, I,”

“Shhh,” Karkat murmured. “I’ve got you. I’m here.” He rolled his hips forward again, nearly melting into Dave at the shock of contact. Dave’s breath caught in his throat. 

“Shit, fuck, I’m,” Dave hissed lightly, the sound sliding from between his teeth as he yanked Karkat as close to him as possible an instant before he relaxed and went completely boneless. Karkat could feel it happen, a damp splash of heat down south against his skin and with a surge he quietly followed after Dave. 

The demon was still limp beneath him. “Dave?” Karkat asked, concerned, blinking back stars. 

Dave broke his silence with a quiet laugh, curling back around him. Dave brushed the hair back from Karkat’s forehead an cupped his face. “Wow,” He said, decided. “ _I have been missing out_.”

Karkat couldn’t help it- the demon sounded miffed. Karkat laughed as well and let himself fall off of Dave and onto the bed beside him. “We made a mess,” he pointed out.

“We,” Dave said dreamily, still limp like he’d never move again. “That’s a first.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Karkat told him, rolling off the bed. “Now come on, we can cuddle later. Now? Shower time.”

Dave grunted. Karkat wasn’t sure if it was in agreement or not, so he prodded the Incubus in the ribs until he let out an explosive sigh and sat upright. His hair was ruffled and stuck up all around his scalp. Karkat laughed again at the sight and tried to smoothen out the fine, pale hair, but Dave’s ratnest was one of supernatural origin and resisted his help. 

“I’ll have to wash it,” Dave said, shaking his head free of Karkat’s fingers. He shrugged, limber, all blinding smile and pale skin that Karkat wanted to touch again. The gentle lamplight highlighted the dent in his side where his bad rib was, the single flaw in what was otherwise a perfect model. Even his scars were beautiful. Karkat was sure he’d memorized them all by now, each silver line etched into his mind.

Dave’s shower was nothing more than a small walk in stall, which ruined Karkat’s hope of sharing it. 

“Sorry,” Dave apologized, guessing. “It’s a tight fit with only one person.”

It was an awkward five minute wait for Karkat to quickly scrub himself clean, the act somehow more intimate when he knew that Dave was waiting in the same room because the demon just had to insist that Karkat go first. 

Bastard. 

Karkat went to bed after showering, waiting for Dave. The demon entered the bedroom wearing nothing but a towel around his slim hips. Karkat rolled his eyes at the sight. 

“What?” Dave asked innocently, shy as a virgin as he covered himself. 

“Nothing,” Karkat answered, patting the empty bed beside him. He looked away as Dave slipped into a pair of fresh boxer shorts before he climbed back into bed with Karkat. 

The demon was normally warmer than the average person, but now, newly showered, he was nearly steamy. It was wonderful. Dave threw an arm over Karkat and pulled him close, kissing him one last time. 

Drowsiness was tugging at Karkat with greedy hands, but he fought it off long enough to say what needed to be said. “Dave?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you, you know that right?”

A pause, then…

“I know,” Dave answered softly. “I love you too Karkat.”

He smiled against Dave’s skin, thrilled and relieved to have finally gotten the fatal words out and to have them said back. All his worries were gone. Everything was going to turn out alright. Not his sore muscles or his worries about the future and and Porrim and the law and even the unknown Rose could come in between that.

He could feel it. Everything was going to be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't write smut i'm sorry that's why this took so long.
> 
> But this is the end of the middle part. These last few chapters will be he ending arcs. 
> 
> Relax! This is going to be a good story with a good ending. I never write something without a happy ending.


	20. chapter YEETteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry crisis everybody!!!
> 
> Here's the new chapter :)

Dave was already awake when Karkat sluggishly opened his eyes. The demon was staring at him, his eyes bare and gentle, so gentle. 

Karkat, still half asleep, instinctively reached out to stop him as Dave reached for his shades. “Wait,” he said softly. Dave’s finger’s curled around his, warm and solid. “You don’t have to do that.”

Dave paused, his scarlet eyes still beautifully visible without his mask. His eyelids fluttered. “Are you sure?” He asked. 

“I’m sure,” Karkat answered firmly. “I trust you.”

Dave let his hand fall back to the bed. The shades sat untouched on the dresser as Dave dropped his hand to the nape of Karkat’s neck and Karkat nudged himself closer, exhaling, his limbs heavy with comfortable drowsiness. He could have stayed on these silk sheets forever, but to the side his phone was vibrating with messages. Dave cleared his throat loudly, fake-coughing, and Karkat huffed and reached for the device. 

crypticGuru (CG) began Petering carnicogeneticist (CG) at 10:23am!

CG: So… how did your mystery trip out of state go?  
CG: I got your message last night that said you were back and thought I should at least let you sleep in, but Dad has a job for us at the church and I thought your demon might be able to help.  
CG: Karkat?  
CG: You’re not still asleep are you? Its nearly eleven. That would be ridiculous even for you. 

With a sigh Karkat answered him, Dave unabashedly reading over his shoulder. 

CG: IT IS NOT RIDICULOUS. IT IS A WELL-DESERVED REST TO SOOTHE MY POOR ACHING BODY. DO YOU KNOW HOW SORE DRIVING 12 HOURS CAN MAKE A PERSON? I FEEL LIKE ONE BIG SAILOR’S KNOT. MY SPINE IS A RIBBON TIED INTO A BOW ATOP THE GIFT WRAPPED BOX OF MY UNTOLD SUFFERING AND PRESENTED TO THE UNBELIEVING CROWD!  
CG: So you ARE awake?  
CG: JUST TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT.  
CG: This morning a choir boy had the misfortune of finding one of Dad’s misplaced cursed Bibles. He’s okay and he currently had his nose buried in Leviticus. Dad wants us to locate the other six Bibles before something else like this happens. From what I can tell the boy’s parents are very upset.  
CG: I DON’T SEE WHY THEY SHOULD BE. IT’S A HARMLESS CURSE. BESIDES, A LITTLE BIT OF READING NEVER HURT ANYBODY.  
CG: Karkat please. It would be a faster job if I had another pair of hands to help.  
CG: THEN WHY THE FUCK DO YOU WANT DAVE TO HELP?  
CG: Simple. More hands.  
CG: ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?  
CG: No? Why would I be?  
CG: WHATEVER, FINE. OKAY. I’LL FUCKING BE THERE IN A MINUTE.  
CG: Thank you Karkat. I’ve already been looking for hours and I’ve had no luck.  
CG: AHHHHH OKAY I GET IT. I’LL BE THERE.

carcinogeneticist (CG) has become an idle chum!

Karkat let out an exasperated groan and rolled over, resisting the call of duty. “Do I have to get up?” He asked, burying his head into the thick comforter. 

“Considering you already told Kankri you’d be there, yes,” Dave told him, sitting upright and yawning. “Damn, its early,” He complained. 

“You don’t have to come if you don’t want to,” Karkat said, sighing. “It’ll be boring work.”

“I’ll join you,” Dave said, stretching his arms out so that each shoulder popped. “It might be fun.”

Karkat rolled his eyes and sat upright, shaking out his wild hair. “I don’t think it’ll be fun,” Karkat admitted grumpily. “Kankri had odd definitions of the word ‘fun’.” 

“Whatever,” Dave said, leaning down to peck at Karkat’s smooth cheek. “I’ll be with you, so it’ll be fine.”

Karkat blushed to the roots of his hair and shrugged away, his face burning with the sweetness that Dave had kissed him with. He was positively melting with it.

Dave hopped out of bed with a grin and left to get dressed.

Karkat stayed where he was, his hand rising to lightly run his fingers across where Dave had kissed him, his face still burning. There was an unfamiliar gushy feeling that expanded to fill the hollows of his chest at the thought as he remembered last night. Had he really told Dave that he loved him? Had Dave really said it back?

The gushy feeling turned into butterflies in his belly, fluttering about and leaving warmth everywhere. He loved Dave. He _loved_ him. 

And maybe Dave even loved him back.

Fighting back sudden, irrational tears, Karkat smiled through the uncertainly that surrounded the realization. Dave loved him, that he was sure of. Was this what real love felt like? This burning tightness in his chest that made each breath squeeze past the overactive lump that was his ecstatic heart? He could feel his pulse in his ears as he sat grinning stupidly on the bed, twisting the comforter in his hands. 

Dave left the bathroom wearing a white hoodie with dark jeans. In the golden light of morning that streamed in through the window the demon looked like he was glowing. The sunlight glimmered off his stark white hair and his beautiful eyes were clear as rubies in the snow. “Hey Karkat,” Dave said, stretching, unaware of the private thoughts that ran through Karkat’s head. “How easy do you think these Bibles will be to find? Meaning, do we need to eat lunch before or after?”

Karkat couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re still hungry?” He asked incredulously. He felt light as air. Karkat couldn’t remember feeling this peaceful in years. 

Dave considered him thoughtfully. “Nope,” he answered slowly, as if surprised by the fact. “Not even a little. The food is for you, moron.”

That wasn’t normal. Dave was always hungry. His stomach was a bottomless pit for carbohydrates to disappear into, never to be seen again. Karkat mentioned as much out loud. “That’s not normal for you, is it?”

Dave paused, his face still. “No,” he answered. “I don’t remember not being hungry for something. But right now… I’m not.” Dave turned to look at him. “Huh, that’s weird.”

Karkat snorted at the incredulousness of the situation, holding back laughter at the baffled look on his boyfriend’s face. “Dave,” Karkat said, deadpan. “Can you think of a reason why you might not be hungry?” He asked, leading Dave carefully along to the answer. 

The demon’s face lit up at the realization, and this time Karkat couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled through him. 

“Wow,” Dave said, speechless.

“I need to get you laid more often,” Karkat declared, giddy with joy as Dave swooped down onto the bed. The springs creaked under him as he reached for Karkat. 

The demon kissed him hungrily, warm and fresh even with Karkat’s morning breath. Greedy for more, Karkat kissed him back. 

Dave sighed happily. “You know,” he said, thoughtful. “We could get started on that objective right now.”

“Not with Kankri waiting on us we can’t,” Karkat laughed, still wrapped around Dave as he kissed him, reluctant to move despite his words. Since Dave was clearly not going to be the one to pull away first, Karkat at last sighed and moved back, stretching out the last of the soreness from the car ride. “Let’s go,” he said. “We can do things later.”

“What kind of things?” Dave asked wickedly, playing with the softer hairs at the nape of his neck. 

Karkat removed Dave’s hand from his neck to brush his lips across the demon’s knuckles. “Everything,” he promised. “I’ve never had that high of a sex drive but with you I don’t think that’s going to be an issue.”

Dave laughed, every bit as joyful as Karkat was. “Probably not,” Dave admitted. “That’s just one of the many perks of dating me.” 

“Good,” Karkat huffed, and then he drug himself away from Dave while he still could and went to get a clean set of clothes out of his travel bag. There would be no walk of shame from him- not when he was prepared. 

He met Dave in the living room after brushing his teeth, the demon’s shades in place again, and they took the bus over to his dad’s church.

Kankri was pacing in the forum, clearly waiting on them. He brightened when Karkat twisted open the front door. “There you are,” he said, already getting to business. “I’ve already searched the left and upper wings alone and had no luck. There’s six Bibles still to be found.”

“What about the boy?” Dave asked curiously, looking around at the empty sanctuary. 

Kankri waved his hand dismissively. “His parents took him to the hospital to be monitored until he finished reading the entire thing,” he said, scowling. “Even though Dad kept promising them that it’s not a harmful curse, just inconvenient.” 

“They should have just hired a spell worker,” Karkat said, scoffing. 

“Or,” Kankri said, nodding. “They could have waited for the Grand Wizard to get here. I’m sure she could break the curse with little effort.”

“Roxy’s coming?” Karkat asked, surprised. “Why?”

“She’ll be taking the cursed Bibles off Dad’s hands, regretfully,” Kankri told them, sighing dramatically. “I know he loved those dumb things. Let’s just find them quick- She’ll be here at 12:30 to pick them up.”

“Alright,” Dave answered, cracking his knuckles. “Let’s make this happen.”

The right wing of the building was a complete mess. Karkat couldn’t help but reach out to touch the wooden cross on the wall as they walked past, as was his old childhood habit. The moving scriptures wound momentarily around his fingertips like old friends. 

Dave squeezed between two bookshelves shoved so close together that he had to turn sideways to pass, their shelves overflowing with old manuscripts and books. “How do we know which ones are the right Bibles?” Dave asked, suspiciously eyeing the several dozen different Bibles in eyeshot. 

“There’s some sort of warning printed on the cover,” Kankri said, squinting as he started rifling through the nearest bookshelf. “I didn’t get a look at what it said, but it should be something obvious.”

“If it’s obvious, why’d that choir boy open it?” Karkat asked.

Kankri shrugged and set aside an older Bible that’s spine was hanging on by a threat. “I don’t know Karkat, why do 14 year olds do anything? Just be careful. Some of these books are very old and valuable, so please be gentle.”

“That’s what she said,” Dave joked and Kankri rolled his eyes. 

Swallowing a grin, Karkat got to work. He combed through several different bookshelves and stacks of books that laid lovingly piled in the corners with care. An hour passed with no luck, and then Dave picked up an old book indistinguishable from the dozen other old books it sat with and read something off the cover, slowly, like the words were hard for him to make out as he sounded out the letters.

“ **Warning,** ” Dave read, squinting behind his shades. “ **be-ware! These words have songs, have lifes, have wings. These books have knowledge, have hopes, have things. Reader be-ware, these books bewitched will snare your soul- reader be-ware!- and fill it with things you ought to know.** ” Dave paused to consider the book in his hands. “You know,” he said conversationally. “The temptation to open this puppy up is astounding. I don’t blame that boy for being curious.” Dave gave the Bible a fond look, the glance identical to how he stared at the preserved jars of dead things he kept on his shelf. 

Kankri stared at the book like it was lible to bite, his face pinched with wariness. “Dave,” he said, his voice slow. “Whatever you do- don’t open that.”

Dave tore his gaze from the closed book and shook his head to clear it. “That is one strong spell,” he said. “Compulsion-based. I don’t think any normal person could resist opening this book.”

Kankri drew a slim chain out of his pocket. “Here,” he said, “I’ll lock it up so it can’t be opened.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Dave said, still holding the book. “This is some nasty magic Kankri. Are you sure you can take it?”

Karkat answered for him. “No, he’s not,” Karkat said, “Kankri, give Dave the chain.”

“Ridiculous,” Kankri shook his head. “It’s fine. I help Dad with all kinds of magical religious artifacts.”

“Not like that you do,” Karkat said. “Quit complaining and just give Dave the chain.”

“If it’s that strong,” Kankri pointed out. “Why are you fine with it?”

“Dude, demon,” Dave said flatly. “It takes a whole damn lot more than a book to get to me.”

Kankri shrugged. “Fine,” he said, and he transferred the chain to Dave, who securely locked up the book so it couldn’t be opened. His brother turned back to him. “Are you happy now, Karkat?”

“Yes,” Karkat said smugly. “Now let’s find the rest. They’ve got to be around here somewhere.”

Karkat found the next one, blue-covered, the black lettering of the warning faded and hard to make out but still legible. “Found one!” He called out triumphantly, not reaching out to pick it up. 

Dave came over and locked that one too. Four more to go. 

The Incubus found the next three quickly after that, all of them in the same pile. “Hell yeah,” Dave said, stacking the three of them together to loop the thin chain around the pile. “Now we’re talking. Where’s that last little bastard hiding?” He turned around like he was expecting the last Bible to jump up and bite him in the ass. Karkat held back a laugh. 

“ _In the beginning_ ,” Kankri said from the side, his voice weirdly high and stressed. “ _God created the heavens and the earth_.”

“Dear Lord,” Karkat sighed and turned around at the familiar words, knowing what he would see. 

Kankri was standing ridged, a blue-covered book in his hands as he read off the first page. “ _And the earth was without form, and void: and darkness was upon the face of the deep_.”

“Jesus fucking Christ, Kankri,” Karkat sighed in exasperation. “Did you have to pick it up?”

Dave burst out laughing, breathless with mirth. “It’s a good thing that wizard is coming then,” he said, blinking. “I hope she can free him.” Dave tried to gently tug the book out of Kankri’s hands but it was like the pages were glued to his skin. They could not be separated. 

Kankri continued to read from Genesis, helpless, until he reached the sixth day where Karkat heard the familiar monologue he’d grown up with change. “ _So God created man in his own image,_ ” Kankri read tonelessly. “ _In the image of God created he him: male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful and multiply_ ,” Kankri read on, reading to the end of the same passage Karkat had memorized back when he was still learning how to spell his own name. These were words burned into his heart, and what came next was like a shock of cold water. “ _And God saw everything He had made, and, behold, it was very good. Then came into the world creatures of Darkness not in God’s image, creatures of the land that crawleth forth, Daemons, and Fiends, not made by God. And, behold, God was not pleased in these creations like He had been by the other Beasts of the Land created by Him. And that evening and the morning were the sixth day._ ”

“What?” Dave said sharply, confused. 

“It’s just an older translation,” Karkat said quickly, his mind racing. “Not the King James version that everybody uses now.” 

Kankri kept reading in the background, the noise secondary to the hurt look on Dave’s face. “I knew that the Bible didn’t speak kindly of Daemon kind,” he said. “But that’s… excessive.” 

Karkat didn’t want to point out that this was tame compared to some of the other Old Testament stuff. Those verses were full of anti-daemon tales and stories of vice and sin and murder at the hands of demons. Karkat didn’t want to hear whatever extremist views the old cursed book would tell, especially stories with known Incubi such as Salome, who did Bad Things to the point of villainizing all demons for it. Just ask John the Baptist why he lost his head. 

“I’ve heard some wicked stuff before,” Dave said sadly. “But that’s a new one.”

“Let’s go tell my Dad what happened,” Karkat sighed, and Dave gently led Kankri out into the sanctuary and left him in a pew to read away in peace as Karkat went to hunt down his father. 

Dr. Vantas was in his study, seated behind his wooden writing desk. He looked up as his youngest son entered the room. “Karkat,” he said, surprised. “I didn’t know you were here. And Dave too, a welcome surprise. It’s good to see you both.”

Karkat sighed and got to the chase. “Kankri invited us to help him hunt down your cursed Bibles and we found them all, but in the process Kankri picked one of them up and he’s currently about halfway through Genesis.”

Dad closed his eyes and pinched at the bridge of his nose, sighing. Karkat couldn’t help but notice how tired his dad looked. There were dark bags under his eyes. “I did warn him not to touch them directly,” he mentioned. “At least the good news is the Grand Wizard will be here shortly. She should be able to fix him right up.”

“Oh, I’d let him finish it first,” Karkat said, nudging at Dave with a well-meaning grin. “He deserves a little harmless magical shenanigans to mess up his day.”

“Karkat,” Dad sighed again and set down his pen. “We will not leave Kankri cursed. That’s not what this family is about. And harmless these Bibles may be, they’re a troublesome bunch.”

“Fine,” Karkat relented. “It was just an idea.”

His dad rolled his eyes. “I take it the other Bibles are secure?”

Dave lifted up the stack of bound and chained books he held under his arm. “Here they are,” Dave said. “All five.”

“Well done,” Dad praised him. “There’s not many people that could stand to hold one of those and remain unaffected.”

Dave just shrugged. 

Dad reached out and ran his bare fingers across one of the Bible’s faded spines. He picked up one of the books and made no move to open it; he only read the warning inscribed on the front covers. “Hmm,” he said. “I remember the spell being much stronger than this.”

“Holy shit dad,” Karkat said, astounded as he watched his father draw out a length of red silk ribbon from his desk and wrap it tightly around each Bible, unlocking the chains to properly bind the books shut with the silk ribbon. “Why aren’t you affected?”

“Practice,” Dad said, focused on the books as he wrapped each one of them with tenderness. “I’ve had these in my collection for a long time. It’s a shame to see them go, but its for the best I suppose. They have a habit of escaping locked drawers to leave themselves where others can more easily pick them up.” He sighed and looked at the powerful cursed artifacts with care. “I’ll miss them, but I’m sure Roxy will take good care of them.” He looked up again at the two of them. “Thank you for finding them for me.”

“No problem,” Dave said. 

“I guess I’ll go see about Kankri,” Dad said, rising from his chair. “At the very least I can wait with him until she gets here.”

“Alright,” Karkat said, pleased until he noticed the look on Dave’s face. It was a drawn, pale, confused look. 

“What is it?” Dad asked, noting the uncertain expression the demon wore. 

“Kankri was reading from the Bible,” Dave began slowly. “He read something I’ve never heard of before.”

Dad looked to Karkat, the unasked question in his eyes. 

“It was an account of the sixth day,” Karkat explained. “The older version of it.”

Dr. Vantas’s eyebrows raised. “I can assume it was something about Daemon kind?” He guessed. 

Dave nodded. 

Dad sighed again. “Dave,” he said gently. “There’s a lot of older translations out there in the Old Testament that detail accounts of shocking anti-daemon actions, but when Jesus died on the cross, he died for each and every one of us, demons included.” Dad leveled a very straight look at the demon. “Don’t ever doubt that,” he said seriously. “The Bible also makes it quite plain that Jesus’s love extends to us all, no matter the people that try to ignore those passages or say they don’t mean what they mean.”

“Like?” Dave prompted, curious. 

“There’s one scripture where Jesus heals a man’s weakened slave,” Dad said, wincing. “Its not the best example for some, as the slave happened to be a demon, and do you know what Jesus said about him?”

“No,” Dave admitted, enraptured.

“ _I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith as this man’s_ ,” Dad quoted the passage from memory. “And He healed the demon.” Dad cleared his throat. “The passage also shows Jesus’s support of human-demon relationships, as the two men were likely romantically involved.”

Karkat knew this story. It was one taught in Sunday schools everywhere, though not in this context. He knew the Centurion’s slave had been a demon in earlier translations of the story, a much debated over fact in modern times. 

Dave looked more at peace once he’d heard the story. His shoulders relaxed. “Thank you,” he said. 

“Let’s go make sure my eldest is alright,” Dad said, smiling at him as Karkat led the way back to the sanctuary, where Kankri was still seated on the pew they’d left him in. He’d stopped reading aloud and his eyes were frantically moving over the words as he turned the page. 

“Kankri,” Dad said, sitting next to him. "How are you doing?”

Kankri just shook his head silently, still completely focused on reading. 

“We’ll have you free in no time,” Dad promised, checking his watch. “It’s 12: 35. She should be here any minute. Dave, can you run back to my office for the Bibles? I seem to have left them on my desk.”

“Sure,” Dave said, and the demon vanished back into the twisting warren-like hallways of the church, moving a little too fast to be normal.

There was a knock on the door to the sanctuary, and when they slid open a woman with electric-pink hair was standing there. Karkat knew Roxy vaguely through Jane, but he’d never explicitly been introduced to the reigning Grand Wizard of New York. 

“Carter Vantas, you old boot,” Roxy shrieked gleefully, sashaying into the church to shake his hand. “I hear you have some fun cursed items for me?”

“Bibles,” Dad explained. “There’s seven in total. We have five locked up. My eldest son is currently caught in the sixth one and the seventh is at St. Vincent’s hospital with another unfortunate victim.”

“Huh,” Roxy bent over to take a closer look at Kankri, her eyes wide. “I just love these old spell weavings,” she said. “They’re so elegant.”

Elegant his ass. “Can you free him?” Karkat asked. 

“Let’s find out,” Roxy said brightly, cracking her knuckles as she drew a blank white card out of her handbag and began to draw a complex circular design on it with a charcoal pencil. Karkat tried to follow the movement of the pencil but the image swam before his eyes, shifting in place as it crawled freely across the paper. 

When finished she gentle tapped the card to Kankri’s forehead. The black design on it vanished like it was sinking into him, and with a jolt Roxy took the Bible out of his nerveless fingers and slapped it shut.

Kankri blinked, reorienting himself. “What just happened?” He asked weakly. 

“You picked up the Bible and it got you,” Karkat told him smugly, slightly glad that Kankri was okay as he put his arm around his brother’s shoulders. 

Kankri, of course, shoved his arm off with a frown. “And the Bibles?”

“Yes, the other Bibles,” Roxy inquired curiously. “Where might they be?” She held the one she’d freed Kankri from in between her pressed palms, like she was physically holding the old book shut. 

“My boyfriend is bringing them,” Karkat promised “He’ll be back in a second.”

“Alright,” Roxy said, dancing over to the pulpit to have a closer look at the charmed inscription that ran around the top. She scratched at the lettering with her fingernail. “This is well done. Who did this?”

“The Witch of the West Coast,” his dad answered. “I have several pieces from Jade in my collection. We’re on good terms with each other.”

“Great!” Roxy said brightly, nodding. “I know Jade as well from out work. She’s an excellent magician.”

“Wait till you see the cross she made for us,” Karkat said, smiling. “It’s a wonderful work.”

“I can’t wait to see it if it’s impressive, especially when compared to these lovely Bibles,” she commented, tapping the book’s cover lovingly. 

The door opened and Dave stepped into the room, the five Bibles neatly stacked in his hands. 

From then everything happened in slow motion. 

Roxy turned to greet him and her eyes flew wide as all of the color drained from her face. Dave noticed the difference and froze in response, right before the grand Wizard shrieked and dropped the Bible, which fell open at her feet and immediately turned towards Karkat, vibrating like a ringing phone as it shook itself across the floor in his direction. 

Karkat ignored the possessed book, focused on his boyfriend as Dave took a cautious step back from the magician, who took a step closer, her gaze locked on him. 

She said just one word. “Dave?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does this count as a cliffhanger?
> 
> Oh, and all biblical quotes are word for word except for the part where I added in demons. The story of Salome and John the Baptist is real though she probably wasn't an actual incubus. The story of the centurion's slave is real as well, though also not an actual demon. I enjoy adding demon lore into this story's religious background. It's a nice touch and ties in things nicely.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I left a note at the top of a chapter last year in my fic TTIITE about how 2017 can burn in hell, and i'm glad to announce that it did.
> 
> 2018 wasn't kind to me, but it's still the best year I've ever had because i grew strong enough to bear it. 
> 
> May 2019 be even better. For all of us. 
> 
> But anyway lol new chapter is up :)

Dave took another step back as the Grand Wizard took another step closer. Karkat had seen that look on Dave’s face before, that strained, wary expression like the demon wasn’t sure what was going to happen next but sure as fuck wasn’t about to hang around to find out. The last time Karkat had seen that look had been right before Dave had blurred out of sight at the police station. 

Roxy must have known how fast an Incubus could move, because she drew out a long slender wand that had Dave bristling with withheld threat at the sight. She let the wand drop to the floor with a clatter and stood with both her open, unarmed hands outstretched pleadingly. “Dave, wait,” Roxy pleaded. “Don’t run. Please.”

Karkat knew Dave. He knew him. He knew how the demon thought and how he reacted when things scared him and Karkat knew that the demon was seconds away from vanishing to a place where none of them could follow. 

But here was the thing. Karkat also knew Roxy. He might not have met her outside of Jane’s parties but he’d heard his friend talk about the wizard enough to have a good judge of her character. Jane would not be such close friends with some sort of psycho; she trusted Roxy and Karkat might not have trusted the wizard, yet, but he trusted Jane and that meant a lot. 

So Karkat decided to intervene. “How the fuck do you know Dave?” He demanded, turning to face the magician with his shoulders squared and fists clenched. 

Roxy didn’t dare look away from Dave long enough to answer him, like the demon would vanish again if she so much as blinked. “It is you,” she breathed reverently. “Dave, its you, isn’t it?” She asked, pleading.

Dad put his head in his hands. “You can’t mean what I think you do,” he said weakly as Kankri just sat there looking stunned, his mouth hanging open. “This Dave can’t be that Dave.”

“He is,” Roxy said, openly studying the demon with wide pink eyes. “I can see his sister in his face.”

That got Dave’s attention. His expression sharpened with suspicion. “How do you know I have a sister?”

Roxy ignored the question, still babbling on about things Karkat didn’t understand. “We missed you by hours in Maine,” she said, nearly crying. “We were so close. You went home again, just like I told Rose you would.”

“How do you know Rose?” Dave asked, but he looked hooked, ensnared by his missing sister’s name. The chords in his neck were tight. The abandoned Bible on the floor vibrated angrily, ignored by everyone.  
“What the hell is going on?” Karkat screeched, sick of being disregarded as he marched over to stand at Dave’s side, shifting to put himself in between the Incubus and the magician that still might be a threat. Karkat might not have been a psychic or a magician, but he’s still put up a good fight if Roxy proved to be a danger to Dave. 

Who was he kidding? This was the motherfucking Grand Wizard of New York! This was the wizard who could vanish the moon from the sky and part the East River like the Red Sea. She was the magician that had personally warded the skyscrapers against flying objects and had famously shielded the Bronx from a city fire that had broken out by summoning a downpour that didn’t drop an inch of rain outside of the burrow’s wards. She was a force of nature. Karkat didn’t stand a chance against a magician of her caliber. 

That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to try. Dave took hold of his offered hand like it was a lifeline. 

“Dave,” the magician said slowly, her hands still pleadingly outstretched. “I’m Roxy Lalonde. I’m your cousin and I have been looking for you since the day you disappeared.”

“I don’t remember ever having a cousin,” Dave snapped back, his hands in fists. 

“Okay, not technically cousins,” Roxy admitted, fidgeting in place with the force of her excitement. “We’ve never met. My family took in Rose and raised her after what happened. She’s my sister too.”

“You know Rose?” Dave asked, clenching Karkat’s hand so hard in his own that it was beginning to hurt.

“Dear God above,” Dr. Vantas, sucking in his breath. “It is him.”

“Yes,” Roxy nodded, laughing through the tears that were running own her face. “I know Rose.”

Karkat was beginning to put the pieces together. It seemed like Dave was as well. The demon’s death grip on his hand began to slowly slack off. Karkat wheeled around on his father, still full of questions. “How do you know Dave?”

God, his dad was smiling, a hint of tears in his gray eyes like he was watching some happily ever after he’d never expected to see. What the fuck? “Six years ago,” Dad explained. “There was a sudden influx of escaped Daemon kind out of Hell, all children. The survivors, or most of them we assume, were rounded up for further care. They all told the same story- that the breakout had been led by an Incubus named Dave, assumed to be the same Dave that Roxy and her family never stopped searching for 15 years ago after the Felt destroyed his family and captured him.”

“You never found all of them,” Dave said, shaking his head. “Lots escaped capture like I did.”

“But we worked with the ones we did save, I worked personally with a few to find them places to live,” Dad said, still smiling like his face would burst with it. Even Kankri seemed to have an inkling of an idea about what the hell dad was talking about. Was Karkat the only person who had no idea what was going on? Hell? Fuck- Impossible. 

“Hell isn’t real,” Karkat argued immediately, rejecting the idea. “I mean, it’s real, the theology is solid but it’s not a place someone can get to or get out of.”

“Karkat, it’s real, okay,” Dave said quietly, his voice choked. “I promise I’ll explain everything later.”

“No, I think that we need to have a talk now,” Dad said, stepping forward. “Let’s go back to my office.”

Roxy bent down to snag the Bible still skittering across the wooden floor in search of a victim. Dave wordlessly handed over the other five to her before stepping back like he was wary of getting too close to the powerful magician. Roxy, sensing his discomfort, didn’t attempt to embrace him like she clearly wanted to. 

“Let’s not,” Dave said, shaking. “Let’s not do this right now.”

Karkat pressed himself closer to the demon for comfort and support. He’d stand behind whatever decision Dave made. Karkat couldn’t understand how hard this must be for Dave, to suddenly have this all dropped on his head with no warning. At least at the police station that had been his choice and he’d still freaked out. 

“Oh no,” Roxy said, shaking her head. “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

Dave squinted at her from behind his shades like he couldn’t believe what she was saying. “You think you can control that?” He challenged, still clearly uncomfortable and on the verge of hauling ass right the fuck out of there. 

Roxy barked out a laugh. “I know Rose,” she repeated haughtily. “Do you really think you can move fast enough to get away before I drop a ward over this entire block?”

There was a silent moment of sudden tension as her words sank in. Karkat squeezed Dave’s hand. “Don’t you dare,” he whispered furiously to the demon. “Please. Don’t go.”

Dave relented with a shrug, “Okay,” he said. “We can talk.”

Dad led the way to his office in silence. Dave stayed glued to Karkat’s side, leaning into him, trembling slightly. Karkat tried to send the Incubus comforting thoughts but he couldn’t get into the right mindset for the kind of thoughts he’d need in this context. He was simply too stressed to be sexy.

Roxy danced the entire way there, her energy boundless with excitement. As soon as Dad closed the office door behind her and gave their small group a lick of privacy, she exploded again. 

“Oh my God,” she said, clutching her chest as she set the bound Bibles on the edge of Dad’s desk, ripped open a dark void in the air beside her like it was nothing, and tucked the Bibles into it, still talking excitedly as she let the void seal the cursed objects away. “I’ve got to tell everyone immediately! I’ve got to tell Rose, and D, and Jade and-”

“Hold on there, Roxy,” Dad said, holding up his hand palm-out to cut her off. “Let’s take this slow.” He said, studying Dave’s fearful expression at such a casual display of magic as Dad Vantas drew his reading glasses out of his desk and set them on his nose, ruffling the papers in front of him as he drew out a pen. “Let’s start at the beginning.”

Karkat recognized this plan. It was how his dad convinced the really troubled ones to cooperate with him. He’d just sit there behind his desk and patiently wait for them to start talking. Sometimes he’d wait hours just like this, letting them have as long as they needed. Something about his Dad’s competent, listening manner just prompted even the worst of them into words, and with Karkat on the receiving end of the familiar arrangement he recognized exactly what his dad was trying to do. 

Karkat stayed quiet and let it happen, trusting that this was the right thing. 

“What beginning?” Dave asked quietly, still holding Karkat’s hand like he would never let it go. Karkat squeezed his hand reassuringly. 

“Let’s go with 15 years ago,” Dr. Vantas said gently. 

Dave shuddered, shaking his head. “No,” he said. “Fifteen years ago I was a child with no idea what was going on. I can’t tell you anything you don’t already know about that.”

“Roxy?” Dad prompted. 

She began talking at once. The words poured out of her. “The Felt somehow located your mother and targeted her. We’d known that the Felt had been collecting Daemon kind specimens for years and an Incubus was one of the few Daemon types they didn’t have in their collection, so they went after your family. Both of your parents were killed in the conflict and you were taken from the home, never to be seen again.” Here Roxy swallowed and looked away, choked for words until she forced herself to continue. “For years we thought you were dead, until six years ago all these young demons began spilling out into the world crying the same exact story- that Dave had led them to freedom. It didn’t take a genius to realize that the Dave was you, and I convinced the Law to update your legal file back into an open missing persons case.” She looked at Dave, still crying, her mascara running in tracks across her cheeks. “I have so many questions.”

Dave looked like he would be sick. He swayed in place until Karkat took a seat in one of his dad’s office chairs and drug the demon down with him. Dave fell into the neighboring chair and clutched at the armrest with white-knuckled hands. “They didn’t find Rose that night,” he said, his face fracturing. A single tear ran out from under the edge of his shades. Karkat had to fight to stop himself from brushing it away. Dave continued his story. “Mom handed Rose to me and told me to run, but they were already up the stairs and there was nowhere for me to go, so I wrapped her in a blanket and set her in the dryer, then I shut the door.” Dave drew in a shuddering breath as Karkat flashed back to that time in his house when he’d asked Karkat to open the dryer, the fear that had been on his face. Karkat felt sick as the demon continued. “I thought I’d killed her, I worried over that fear for years, but it was the only place they wouldn’t look for a baby.”

“She was alright,” Roxy promised him, blinking back tears. “Incubi are tough things even as infants.”

“They asked me where she was when they found her empty crib,” Dave told them, toneless. “They beat me when I wouldn’t speak, beat me until I couldn’t move, and then one of the men leaned down really close to me and asked again, all soft and gentle like, where she was.” Dave laughed to himself at the memory. “I spit in his face instead of answering. That’s the last thing I remember from that night. I woke up in Hell after that.”

Karkat, slightly horrified even though Dave had told him most of this before, couldn’t help but reach for the demon. He hated to see Dave’s normally calm façade ruined by the exact conversation he’d been avoiding for years. 

Roxy was crying again. Dad’s pen hadn’t stopped taking notes. Even Kankri was blinking back tears.

Karkat just felt angry. And confused. And sorrowful. And okay, maybe he didn’t know what to feel or what name what he was currently feeling but it sure as fuck was strong. 

“We thought you were dead,” Roxy said, sniffling. “Rose never gave up on you though. Neither did D.”

“D?” Dave questioned, his chin tilting to the side. 

“OH MY GOD- D!” Roxy squealed, jumping up again, her face ecstatic. “He’s your uncle! I’ve got to tell him I found you!”

The name struck a chord in Karkat. He’d heard that name before. “Wait, I know that name,” he said, his face scrunching up as he dove into his memory, chasing it. “He’s that big movie director that got shot a few years back.” And the only publicly known Incubus in the country. Shit. 

Karkat cursed himself for not connecting the dots in time. This should have been obvious. 

Roxy was already nodding. “Yes! D’s Dave’s uncle. He’s been looking for you this whole time.”

Dave just looked confused. “I don’t remember having an uncle,” he commented slowly.

Roxy’s ecstatic face fell a little. “But you should. D was always visiting, and he was there for holidays and birthdays and everything.”

Karkat’s heart ached at Dave’s blank look. Roxy and his dad didn’t know about Dave’s faulty memory- they didn’t know that he’d lost most of his childhood to Serket demons. 

Somehow Roxy seemed to understand that she was on thin ice with keeping Dave from bolting. “That’s okay,” she said, swallowing. “I’m sure they’ll be time later to sort things out.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Dave said. “Sorting things out.”

Karkat cut his eyes sharply to the demon. Dave was pointedly Not Looking at him and his stomach dropped. Dave didn’t want to answer questions, and Karkat didn’t blame him for it one bit. 

Roxy was silent. 

“Can… can I have a moment alone?” Dave asked, his fingers tight against the knees of his jeans. “Please? This is just happening too fast.”

Kankri stood up to leave. Dad held up his hand. “You can take all the time you need,” he said gently. “I’m sure all of this is quite a shock.” He stood up and headed for the door. “Roxy,” he called. “I’m sure you will take this time to alert the people you need to, quietly, and let them know that Dave is safe.”

The wizard followed after his dad. Karkat gave Dave one last long look, and then he made to follow his family.

“Wait,” Dave said, catching his hand with sudden panic. “Not you. Stay, please.”

Relieved, Karkat fell back into his chair and waved at his dad to close the door. It swung shut with a resounding click and left just the two of them alone in his dad’s office. 

“I’m not leaving you,” Karkat said, sniffling. “Dave-”

“I know,” the demon interrupted, his head in his hands. “Karkat? I’m terrified. I don’t know what to do.” Dave picked up his head to look at Karkat, his shades masking most of his expression but failing to hide where the light caught on the tear tracks down his face. 

Karkat reached for him and pulled the Incubus into his embrace. Dave leaned willingly into him, warm and solid. “Shhh,” Karkat murmured, tears in his own eyes as he let Dave silently cry into his jacket. “It’ll be okay. Everything will be okay.”

Dave clutched at him, doing nothing but breathing. The angle was awkward because of the chair arms but Karkat wasn’t letting go. 

“Dave?” Karkat asked, tentatively. “This is what you wanted, isn’t it? To find Rose? To find your family?”

“It is,” Dave answered, “But I’m still afraid.” The raw honestly in Dave’s voice nearly broke him.

“Afraid of what?” Karkat had to ask, lifting Dave’s face between his palms to look at him as Karkat gently pulled the sunglasses from Dave’s face to look him in the eyes. “That Rose won’t like you? That D will be mad you can’t remember him? That you did what you had to do to survive in that awful place?”

“You don’t now the half of it,” Dave said blankly, and now exposed his eyes shone in the low lighting, flaring a deeper red than before. “You don’t know what they did to me. You don’t know what they made me do.”

“You don’t need to tell me,” Karkat argued, swallowing thickly. “Do you know how many times I’ve sat in this same office and listened to my dad explain to me how best to be gentle with my next roommate because they’d been trafficked? Do you think I can’t fucking guess what happened to you? Do you think that I care or that things between us will change if you tell me?”

Dave was crying again. “No,” he admitted. “Not you. You’re the only one I’m sure of Karkat. The others?” He let out a humorless laugh. “I don’t want them to know.”

“Dave,” Karkat said gently, “I think they already do.”

Dave shuddered. “That’s not what I mean,” he said, swallowing as he ran his fingers through his pale hair with stress. He wouldn’t meet Karkat’s eyes. “Do you think I just walked out the front doors Karkat? How do you think I broke everyone else out of there? Did you think that the Felt just let us go? I did something, okay, something bad, and if Roxy or the police find out I don’t know what they’ll do to me.”

“And that’s why you’re afraid of answering their questions?” Karkat asked, incredulous. “Dave, whatever you did I’m sure you had a reason for it.”

“Maybe I did,” Dave said. “Okay, I had a good reason for it, but it doesn’t excuse the thing that I did. I…” He broke of suddenly, choking on the words. “Karkat… I killed someone.”

Karkat heard a ringing in his ears. Fuck. What the fuck? Fuuuuuuck. 

Dave continued. “That’s what I’m afraid they’ll find out. What if I find Rose just in time to lose her? Or lose you?” Dave’s voice was panicked, rushed with urgency. “I can’t forget what I did- I dream about it every fuckin’ night. The police? Do you really think they’ll let me walk free once they know I’m a murderer? Shit, Karkat, demons everywhere get locked up for less and I actually did the one fucking thing every human is so afraid of Daemon kind doing. I killed someone. I killed them, Karkat, I, I-” 

Dave was falling apart. Karkat crushed the demon to him, never wanting to let him go as he blinked back tears. “It’s okay,” Karkat said, struggling not to cry. “Dave? Dave- I don’t fucking care, okay? I don’t give a shit if you had to kill someone to escape, and there’s no way that the DA will arrest you for that and besides, even if she does Porrim can get you free and Dad will defend you and I’m sure it was self-defense and justified and it sucks, alright it just fucking sucks that they forced you to kill someone to get the fuck out of there alive but that’s in the past, and-” Karkat was rambling now, the words spilling out of him in an unending flood. 

Karkat didn’t know what to do. He felt helpless. He wasn’t a lawyer; he didn’t know what the Law said in situations like this. He didn’t know what to do or say and he didn’t fucking know how to help Dave other that comfort him and he’d never felt so fucking useless!

There was a knock on the door and it cracked open, a sliver of Roxy’s guilty face visible. “Can I come in?” She asked, clearly interrupting them. “I couldn’t help myself and I might have been spying, just a little,” she held two fingers an inch apart to accent her words as Karkat felt a flash of outrage. She sashayed into the room, and when Dave turned to glare at her she threw up a hand to shield her eyes.

“Easy there,” the wizard cautioned, her eyes resolutely closed to protect her from Dave’s exposed sockets. “I’m not here to hurt you.”

Dave squinted suspiciously at her. “You know what,” he said. “I don’t think I’ll put my shades back on.” The threat in his voice was real and Karkat flashed back to the snarl Dave had made, the sheer demonic intent behind the spine-chilling noise a whisper of remembrance in his voice right now. 

“Remember, I grew up with your sister,” Roxy warned him. “I’m well-versed in exactly what Incubi are capable of.”

Dave said nothing, but he did obediently slip his shades back on. Not that Karkat knew it mattered; he’d seen how fast the demon could move. 

“You said you were spying?” Karkat accused. “Why?”

“It was merely to make sure Dave wasn’t using the alone time to ditch us,” Roxy answered, shaking her head at him. “I’ve gone through too fuckin’ much to lose him again.”

“And?” Dave asked. “What does it matter? You just heard my confession. I’m turning myself in.”

“For what?” Roxy laughed, gleeful. “Killing Lord English? Shit, Dave, you don’t get arrested for that, if anything the city should give you a fucking medal! We’re been trying to defeat the Felt for years and you all but single-handedly took them out for us and freed an small army of captured demons with you as you did it. That doesn’t make you a murderer… that makes you a hero.”

“I’m not a hero,” Dave argued, his voice hard. “I killed a man.”

“You killed a monster,” Roxy argued right back at him. “Anyone would have done the same thing in your position, and besides, we’ve known this for years. All of the demons we rounded up told us.”

“You knew?” Dave questioned, shocked. “But… why did you try to find me then?” He sounded confused. 

“Because it wasn’t your fault,” Roxy said, her voice deadly serious. “Now, I’m going to make a phone call to Rose, and I’m going to tell her that I found you, and you are going to sit right the fuck there and talk to her and there will be no more of this ridiculous murder bit, do you understand?” Her voice was thunderous, her eyes flashing that odd pink shade they were. “So what you killed an evil demon mob boss to escape- he was holding you prisoner! In Hell! You did what you had to do and no one blames you for it.” She put her foot down with a crackle of electric pink sparks that snapped under her heel. _“I did not just find you again to have the Law take you from me.”_

Dave blinked, shell-shocked as Roxy steamrolled over him like a force of nature. This young woman was on the warpath and nothing would get in between her and Dave and survive. 

Karkat understood that. Roxy did too. Dave was beginning to understand, Karkat could see the realization dawning on his face as, for the first time, a family member protected him. The white-haired demon swallowed thickly, his hands in his pockets. “You said you were my cousin?”

“Close enough,” Roxy answered, tilting her chin up. “We’re family.”

Dave took Karkat’s hand and gripped it firmly. “I think I’m ready for that phone call now,” he said.

…

 

Karkat’s Dad drew him way while Dave and Roxy bent their heads over her hit pink cell phone. “Karkat,” he said sternly. “What did you know of this?”

“Everything?” Karkat said, shrugging, trying to look behind his dad’s broad shoulders to see Dave. “Dave’s told me everything.”

“That’s where you went this weekend?” Dr. Vantas questioned, rubbing at his eyes. “You went to Dave’s hometown?”

“Yes, alright, that’s where we went,” Karkat snapped, “What I’m interested in is how the f… heck, you know about Dave.” Karkat asked, respect for his father choking the expletive out before he could say it. 

His dad laughed, overjoyed as he embraced his son. “Karkat” he said, smiling. “Do you know what this means?”

“No, and I really wish someone would tell me,” Karkat said, resisting the urge to pull at his own hair with pent-up frustration. It felt like the past hour was a never-ending spiel of emotional whiplash as he glared at his father. 

“It’s alright, Karkat,” Dad promised. “You don’t need to be angry. This a miracle.”

“Why?” Karkat asked, just to be contrary. 

His dad sighed. “The Felt terrorized the world before its collapse. Those other demons he freed? They get to live their lives now. The only missing piece of the puzzle was him, and we had conflicting stories from other hellbreakers about if he was even still alive or not.” Dad passed his hand over his face. “There was a good possibility he’d been killed in the escape- that’s what a lot of people thought. I’ve been looking for him for years, praying that he’d be okay.”

It took Karkat two second to find a flaw in this admittance. “Wait,” he said. “You say you’ve been looking for an Incubus named Dave, and I start dating one and you just… didn’t know?”

Dad sighed again. “I wasn’t sure if he was an Incubus or not,” he admitted. “I knew he was some Daemon kind, but I couldn’t be sure he was an Incubus.”

“Why not?” Karkat asked confused. “It’s kind of obvious.” Or it should have been, until Karkat remembered that his dad hadn’t been there at the hospital with them, and probably hadn’t discussed his boyfriend in detail with Kankri. 

“For one, he was dating you,” Dad said, laughing to himself. “Incubi don’t exactly date other people- that’s what they’re famous for.”

Karkat bit his tongue at that, knowing that it wasn’t his place to reveal Incubi secrets.

Plus he did _not_ want to have the whole soulmates-with-a-demon talk with his dad. Not now, not ever. 

His dad looked gently at him, his eyes twinkling. “But I know what it means when they choose someone to stay with,” he said as Karkat flushed red to the roots of his hair. “Karkat- it’s okay. I’d much rather you date someone who really loves you than stay with someone who doesn’t.”

Karkat stood there, surrounded by his family as he heard Roxy and Dave talking on speaker phone to Rose, and then D, and his dad stood there beaming as the sunlight streamed in through the office window and turned everything golden, and Karkat felt so full of love that he didn’t know what to do with it all, so in plain sight of his dad, Kankri, and Roxy, he marched over to his boyfriend and Roxy, freshly free of what must have been the most exciting phone call of the century, and Dave was crying, and he was too, and it felt like everything was going to be okay at last so he took Dave’s face in his hands and hugged him tightly.

Dave embraced him back as Karkat wiped the tears from his face with his thumbs and kissed him so deeply that the rest of the world fell away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We'Re DoInG tHiS... wE'rE mAkInG tHiNgS hApPeN


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ending arcs of this fic will tend to be on the longer side as I wrap everything up, so I thought I'd go ahead and post this bit as I break up the rest into smaller chapters so the last one doesn't end up being 20k long. 
> 
> Enjoy... f l u f f !

It was a long, silent drive back up to Maine. This time Dad was driving and Karkat, Kankri, Kanaya, Porrim, and Dave were in the back of the van. Karkat sat in the middle to shield Dave from Kankri’s influence as the demon stared out the window, his covered gaze locked on the gentle purple hills of elder mountaintops capped in white with the first snows of the season.

Summer was right around the corner and in less than a week Karkat would be done with school forever. Or not, since he’d just finished submitting the first rounds of grad school applications in a hopeful bid at a Master’s degree, though that dream was years in the future. For now, in the present, Karkat contented himself with holding tight to his boyfriend’s hand.

Dave hadn’t said anything the entire trip, too lost in his own thoughts to take much note of where Porrim and Kanaya were ironing out the details of how the new laws would affect Daemon kind. 

“Vermont is right there with New York,” Porrim said, typing away at her phone as Kanaya rolled her eyes. “If this vote passes, that’s one more state that will sign up with us.”

“Three states does not a nation make,” Kanaya cautioned rationally. “We need more votes.”

“But it’s a start,” Porrim said, her skin glowing faintly in the dim light of the van as the sun rose in shades of pink over the horizon as she smiled, revealing slim fangs that rested against her bottom lip. “Give me an inch and I’ll take a mile. I’ll turn these three newly Daemon-friendly states into a dozen, and then two dozen, and so on and on until demons everywhere are granted equal rights and the same protection under the law.”

Karkat was only half listening himself. His sisters had begun this debate four hours ago and the details were wearing thin on his mind. The vote for Porrim’s new laws he could be sure about. 

It was all the rest that kept him up a night. 

The phone calls Rose left constantly in his inbox, the letters from a famous movie director that started showing up in his PO box, a cross pendant from the notorious Witch of the West Coast that found its way onto his bedroom dresser with no obvious explanation available outside of a sheer overabundant display of higher magics, the reason of which he couldn’t rattle out…. In short, Karkat’s life had gotten crazy in the last two weeks since Roxy had waltzed into his dad’s church wearing pink hair and black boots to break through to the heart of Dave with a single word. 

When Karkat had laid in bed at night and thought about the ghosts of Dave’s past finding him, he’d never dared to imagine a happy ending, too afraid of the unknown to want what he’d thought was impossible. Sometimes he still dreamt that he couldn’t breathe only to wake up with his hands flying to his neck to find nothing there except for the lingering feeling of psychic hands around his throat, the threatening shadows of his bedroom concealing faces he half-convinced himself were real. But here he sat, safe, Dave’s hand in his, on the way up to Maine to meet with Rose and D and Jade in person for the first time, and to close a legal case that had been open for years too long. 

But still Karkat couldn’t rest, even as the lull of the road drew Kankri into sleep so that he flopped over onto Karkat’s shoulder and snored lightly into his brother’s ear. Karkat sat still and bore it for the sole reason that Kankri needed all the sleep he could get. 

It struck him then that every single person Karkat considered family was in this van with him. His three arguing/sleeping siblings, his silently stoic father, and Dave, whom he loved. His own little happy family. Did Dave think the same thing? Did the Incubus think of Kankri as an annoying but faithful add-on? Did he dream of the day where Porrim and Kanaya would consider him as a full member of the family that had adopted them? Or were his thoughts reserved for the family they were driving all this way to meet?

With Dave’s eyes locked on the passing scenery, Karkat couldn’t tell. He’d grown so attuned to the demon that reading Dave’s blank expressions were easy, but when the demon wanted to he could still become a locked book with a frightening degree of ease. 

But then Dave tilted his head just enough to smirk at the sight of Kankri snoring away on Karkat’s shoulder, and Karkat grinned back with a scowl as he held up his middle finger playfully. Dave mimed taking a picture back at him before snapping an actual photo. A moment later Karkat’s phone buzzed in his pocket and he carefully fished it out to avoid waking up his brother. 

It was the picture Dave had taken of him, except the demon had dawn over it to show exaggerated eyes and a line of imaginary drool hanging from Kankri’s open mouth. Small hand-drawn pink and red hearts floated around Karkat’s face and his chest gave a squeeze at the sight. 

There was a message attached to the photo. 

TG: aww karkat look at you. i didnt know you had it in you to look so soft and snuggly

Karkat couldn’t help but reply back, biting his lips to hold in his smile so that Dave wouldn’t see how easily he’d gotten to him with those small colorful hearts. 

CG: SHUT UP, I CUDDLE WITH YOU ALL THE TIME. MY SOFTNESS SHOULD NOT BE ANY SORT OF UNWELCOME SURPRISE.  
TG: idk man theres something about watching you let kankri drool all over you that makes me think maybe, just maybe, youre all bark and no bite. just a big softie with a good heart hiding away beneath all that anger you flaunt around the place like youre on a mission from god himself to be the most pissed off person on the planet at any given moment  
TG: if looking angry were an award, youd be the record holder  
CG: I DO NOT LOOK ANGRY ALL THE TIME.  
CG: THAT’S ABSURD.  
CG: I ONLY STRIVE TO LOOK THIS ANGRY TO KEEP FUCKHEADS FROM TRYING TO START ARGUMENTS WITH ME. IT’S GOT A SHOCKINGLY HIGH SUCCESS RATE IF YOU’D BELIEVE THAT.  
TG: id believe anything you told me, especially when you say it all angry and flustered like that  
CG: THAT’S RIDICULOUS AND MAKES NO SENSE DAVE. WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS?  
TG: maybe because when youre like that i can see how passionate you truly are. you really care about all of us even when you try to hide it, albeit badly try  
TG: it just means youre real and you mean what you say and i cant get enough of it  
TG: i could listen to you rant about things all day even if i have no idea what youre talking about  
CG: DAVE…  
CG: THAT MIGHT BE THE SWEETEST THING YOU’VE EVER SAID TO ME.  
TG: d’awwwww stop it youll make me blush

Karkat hid another grin and watched as Dave continued to type away on his phone. There was something he wanted to ask, but not out loud, not where his dad or sisters might overhear. He took the chance and quickly hit send on his next message before Dave could complete what was surely a long and ridiculous statement of his undying affection.

CG: ARE YOU AFRAID TO MEET YOUR FAMILY?

Karkat could see the instant that Dave read the message. His shoulders went stiff as he erased whatever he’d been typing. His reply was short.

TG: yes  
CG: ME TOO.  
TG: why are you afraid?  
CG: I’M NOT SURE HOW TO SAY THIS.  
CG: BUT IT’S LIKE, EVERY SINCE I MET YOU, I’VE BEEN LIVING INSIDE OF THIS BUBBLE WHERE ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. LIKE, THINK ABOUT HOW MUCH HAS CHANGED. PORRIM IS THREE VOTES AWAY FROM PASSING HER UNIVERSAL DAEMON PROTECTION ACT, KANKRI MIGHT NOT BE AS BIG A DICK AS I THOUGHT, AS ALWAYS DAD KNOWS WAY TOO FUCKING MUCH AND STILL WON’T LET ME IN ON THE DETAILS, I’M GRADUATING IN FIVE DAYS, AND EVERYTHING FEELS UNREAL.  
CG: AND I CAN’T HELP BUT THINK THAT YOU’VE HAD A HAND IN ALL OF THIS. FUCK, SOLLUX IS PSIONIC NOW! WHERE THE HELL DID THAT COME FROM??? NOW I’M GETTING LETTERS FROM MOVIE STARS AND MAGICIANS STALK MY EVERY MOVE AND EVERY SINGLE FUCKING DAY I FALL MORE IN LOVE WITH YOU.  
CG: BUT I FEEL LIKE THAT’S ALL HAPPENING INSIDE THIS BUBBLE THAT WE’VE CREATED WHERE IMPOSSIBLE THINGS LIKE THIS JUST HAPPEN EVERY DAY, AND THAT IT CAN’T LAST FOREVER AND I’M AFRAID OF WHAT’S WAITING FOR US ON THE OTHER SIDE.  
CG: I DON’T WANT YOU TO GET HURT, DAVE. I JUST WANT YOU TO BE HAPPY.  
TG: youre worried about meeting my family?  
CG: OF COURSE.  
CG: ARN’T YOU?  
TG: its different for me  
TG: ive been waiting years for this moment and my only fear is that i wont live up to it  
TG: like,  
TG: idk  
TG: just that im only me. ive only ever been me- i cant imagine whats its been like for them, out there in the world, looking for me  
TG: and now i know theyve heard the stories about me from the other demons that escaped  
TG: and im afraid that i wont live up to the person that theyll be expecting me to be  
TG: like im just me, not some fucking heroic demon that led an army out of hell and killed the last existing cherubim. that might have happened in the past but its just stories now. the truth is im a shitty dj with a third rate apartment and not a dime to my name  
TG: what if theyre expecting someone else? someone thats not me  
CG: OKAY, FIRST OFF, YOU’RE NOT A SHITTY DJ.  
CG: YOU’RE THE BEST I’VE EVER HEARD AND EVEN SOLLUX AGREES WITH ME ON THAT AND HE NEVER ADMITS WHEN SOMEONE ELSE IS BETTER THAN HIM. I DIDN’T EVEN LIKE MUSIC THAT MUCH BEFORE I MET YOU BUT YOU SINGLE-HANDEDLY CHANGED THAT ABOUT ME. I LOVE YOUR MUSIC.  
CG: SO DOES EVERYONE ELSE. SHIT DAVE, YOU’LL PROBABLY GET FAMOUS FOR IT IF YOU KEEP ON SLAYING CROWDS AND SELLING OUT GIGS LIKE YOU’VE BEEN DOING.  
CG: AND SECONDLY, ROSE IS EXPECTING HER BROTHER.  
CG: THAT’S YOU.  
CG: NOTHING ELSE MATTERS.  
CG: D IS EXPECTING TO MEET HIS NEPHEW. ROSE IS EXPECTING TO MEET HER BROTHER. TO BE HONEST I’M NOT SURE HOW THIS JADE WITCH FACTORS IN BUT I’M SURE SHE’S HERE FOR A REASON.  
CG: THE POINT IS, THERE IS NO WAY THAT YOUR FAMILY WILL FIND ANYTHING WRONG WITH YOU. THEY WON’T CARE ABOUT THE MINOR DETAILS- JUST THAT YOU’RE SAFE AND HAPPY.  
CG: AND I’M NOT SURE IF I SHOULD SAY THE LAST THING I’M THINKING ABOUT.  
TG: karkat?  
TG: ok now youve got me nervous  
CG: IT’S ABOUT THE APARTMENT THING.  
TG: oh?

Karkat bit his lip and looked up at where Dave was studiously Not Looking at him. His fingers trembled as Karkat typed out the words.

CG: MOVE IN WITH ME. 

Dave’s head snapped up to meet his when the demon read the message. Even with those shades in place Karkat could feel Dave’s eyes boring into him, supernaturally intent. 

Karkat didn’t break eye contact as he wrote out the rest of his thoughts, cementing them in place. 

CG: DAVE, I WANT YOU TO MOVE IN WITH ME.  
CG: I HAVE AN EMPTY ROOM THAT’S AVAILABLE AND WITH YOU NOT THERE THE ENTIRE APARTMENT FEELS EMPTY. I WANT TO WAKE UP BESIDE YOU EVERY MORNING.  
CG: AND BESIDES, YOU MOSTLY STAY OVER AT MY PLACE ANYWAY WHEN I’M NOT SPENDING THE NIGHT WITH YOU. WHY NOT MAKE IT OFFICIAL?

Dave just stared at him wordlessly. Kankri murmured in his sleep and snuggled deeper into Karkat’s side, his hair tickling the side of Karkat’s neck. The gentle bickering of his sisters seemed oddly muted as he stared at Dave, the van rocking as Dad hit a pothole. 

Dave put his phone away and Karkat’s heart fell at the clear refusal to answer, but then Dave leaned in and whispered, “Do you really mean that?”

Karkat didn’t have much room to move with his older brother contently snoozing away the miles from his place on Karkat’s shoulder, so he reached out and cupped Dave’s face with his open palm. The hard plastic arm of the demon’s shades dug into his thumb, the matte lenses reflecting nothing but shadow before Dave slipped them off his face, revealing his eyes. 

Karkat swallowed thickly. Like this, Dave’s expression could hide nothing. There were no secrets between them with the demon’s shades gone. Looking into Dave’s eyes was like staring directly into a deep place made of fire and blood. The sight sent shivers down his spine as Dave openly studied him, searching for any sign of hesitation. 

Karkat pulled the demon closer until he could tilt his head forward and rest his forehead against Dave’s. The intimate gesture brought those bright red blood-and-fire eyes close enough to his own that they filled the horizon of Karkat’s field of vision. Dave was warm, his skin fever-hot with stress as Karkat stroked his cheek gently and did nothing but breathe him in. 

“Yes,” Karkat answered, his voice nothing but a faint whisper. “I really mean that.”

Dave’s lips trembled as he exhaled in a sigh, his breath catching dangerously close to a full-body shake as Karkat tugged him closer. He laced his fingers through Dave’s white hair, the strands so incredibly soft beneath his fingertips as he pulled the demon into a one-armed embrace. The Incubus folded against him, his face buried in the crook of Karkat’s neck. 

Karkat kept carding his fingers through the soft warmth of Dave’s hair, repetitive and soothing as he cradled the demon against himself. “You should try to get some sleep,” Karkat chastised him, ignoring the elephant of an unanswered question in the van between them. “It’s the middle of the night for you and I know that you didn’t sleep well yesterday.” 

Dave sighed again but didn’t move from his place against Karkat’s side, instead shifting his weight to press closer to him, hanging his head fully onto Karkat’s shoulder. “I don’t think I can sleep,” he admitted.

Karkat pressed a chaste kiss to the top of Dave’s head, the only place he could easily reach with his lips without waking Kankri. Between his brother and the demon leaning on him, Karkat was beginning to feel very warm. It was a nice feeling and made his eyes droop with the remembered exhaustion of the past few days. “You can sleep,” Karkat promised, knowing that Dave's hesitation to close his eyes might have stemmed from the fact that he didn't feel safe letting his guard down that much around Karkat's siblings. Dave had slept in Karkat's presence plenty of times, but add in a few other people and the game was completely different. Karkat understood wholly and cradled him close. “I’ll be right here. I’ll hold onto you the entire time.”

Karkat felt the light shake of Dave’s shoulders in a silent laugh right before he felt the distinct press of Dave’s lips against his collarbone. Karkat’s eyes drifted shut at the sensation as a flash of heat burned through him. It was here, in these quiet moments, that Karkat could feel the rare event of Dave actively feeding off of him. He normally could never tell when the Incubus was up to his demon shenanigans; Dave was always aloof on the subject, but now there was the distinct feel of something being taken from him, that flash of welcome heat inspired by Dave’s lips channeled somewhere else.

It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling. It was shockingly intimate, something shared, something willingly given, skin to skin, a secret exchange between the two of them. Karkat was getting better at recognizing that flash of feeling for what it was. This time it felt more like a comfort thing, with Dave siphoning away energy just to taste Karkat on his lips much in the same way that Karkat would sip on a warm cup of fresh coffee on a cold morning just to feel the heat infuse him. 

“Alright,” Dave murmured, clueless that Karkat had caught him in the act. “I’ll try to get some sleep.”

Dave fell quiet against him, relaxing at last as the tension drained out of his shoulders. Kankri continued to snore lightly from Karkat’s other shoulder, knocked out deeply enough that it might have been comical under other circumstances. Pressed between the two of them, Karkat felt very warm and loved, content in a way he hadn’t felt in literal years as his dad continued to drive up to face whatever it was that was waiting on them.

And for once, Karkat felt ready to face it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that plot-wise this doesn't accomplish much aside from character building, but its been long enough since i've posted and i wanted to give everyone something to tide them over as i finished up writing the last chapters of the story line 
> 
> and fluff is always welcome
> 
> fluff good :)


	23. Chapter IDK anymore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ITS TIME FOR A NEW CHAPTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Karkat jolted awake as his dad pulled into the bumpy gravel parking lot of the police station. At the sight of the squat gray building all of his old fears returned in a flood. Likewise, Kankri and Dave picked up their heads as the van maneuvered over the uneven ground and into a parking spot. There was a moment of silence as the van’s engine was cut off. 

Dave was gripping Karkat’s hand tightly as he immediately shielded his eyes from the sunlight, hunting for where his shades had fallen into his lap. Karkat handed the black frames to him one-handed and Dave squinted at him, clearly not liking the brightness of the daylight before he slipped the shades back into place. 

Kanaya had a gray mark on her cheek from where it had been pressed against the side of the van from sleep. Porrim was blinking repeatedly. “Are we here?” She asked curiously. 

“We’re here,” Dad answered grimly, his hands still on the steering wheel. The parking lot was full to bursting with squad cars from several different counties, the district pooling in all its resources to insure that things went smoothly. There was a glossy black 4x4, unmarked, that sat to the side, its windows tinted black in a way that screamed either lots and lots on money or actual undercover FBI. 

The beat up old church van stood out like a sore thumb, and Karkat wasn’t surprised when two different unmarked cars pulled into the lot behind them.

“How long have they had police tailing us?” Karkat asked, staring at the officers who got out of the black vehicles. 

“For the past two hours or so,” Dad answered, scrubbing at his tired face with his palms. His voice was hoarse. “I think the entire town is on edge today.”

“That’s a bit of an understatement,” Porrim stated as the three officers approached the van.

Karkat could physically feel Dave growing more freaked out at his side as his dad rolled down the driver’s side window to speak to the strange men. 

“Dr. Vantas?” The officer asked, respectfully nodding to Karkat’s father. “I hope the trip went well.”

“It did,” Dad nodded, shaking the man’s offered hand through the open window. 

The man radioed in their arrival while his partner spoke to Dr. Vantas in hushed tones. “Dispatch has nearly fifty officers on standby today… We’re all on edge but not expecting any complications, not from physical attacks at least.”

“Magical?” Dad asked, concern bleeding into his tone. 

The cop nodded, gnawing on his lower lip. “There ain’t much physical damage that can drop an Incubus so’s magical attacks that’re our concern. We’re got all the trustworthy magicians we can muster with us today just in case.” The man nodded again, pulling his hat lower so its brim shaded his face. “Of course, Jade will be here shortly. Roxy too. I can’t imagine anyone without a death wish tryin’ something with them two here.”

“Amen to that,” dad said, and he turned to look behind him at where Dave was clinging to the edge of his seat. “Dave?” He called out. “Are you ready to go?”

Karkat heard Dave swallow thickly from beside him.

“I am,” the demon answered simply, no hint of stress in his voice. His face was carefully neutral, his expression a highly controlled blank slate that betrayed how tense he was. 

It made Karkat worry about how little he could read from the demon. Dave was shutting him out, preparing himself for whatever blow he thought was coming. 

The van door’s opened and Kanaya, Porrim, and Kankri poured out, eager to escape the confines of the vehicle. Karkat and Dave exited slowly. Karkat stayed close to Dave’s side, shielding him from all he could, even if right now that meant nothing more that shading the demon from the blinding sunlight. 

The cops surrounded Karkat’s small circle of family and helped lead them inside. The Fey desk worker was still there; she nodded to them hopefully as the Vantas-Maryam family filed past. At least they weren’t led to an interrogation cell, rather, they were ushered into a roomy office that had cinderblock walls and no windows. The Police Chief stood waiting on them, talking quietly to two women.

Karkat’s stomach gave a sudden incredulous lurch as he recognized her from the back of her head. There was no one else who could pull of that short, spikey haircut without looking like a rabid raccoon on meth, and when she turned to face him, grinning wickedly, her teeth sharp against her bottom lip and her red-tinted glasses covering her bind eyes, everything clicked into place. 

“Terezi?” Karkat asked, astounded. Dave had gone stiff at his side, staring at the pair of Legislacerators with his mouth open.

“Vriska?” Dave asked, just as shocked as Karkat was, though his tone was tainted with excitement. 

“Hey Dave,” the girl at Terezi’s side winked behind glasses that were only tinted on one side, her lips painted cerulean. “Long time, no see.”

“Wait a second,” Dave said, but he was smiling, clearly pleased. “How the fuck are you here?”

“You know each other?” Karkat asked, still staring at his ex-girlfriend with his heart in his throat. 

“Oh dear,” Kanaya murmured sympathetically. “What is going on?”

“Karkat,” Terezi said, grinning widely as she stared in his direction, ruffling a folder of papers in her arms. “As the new head of Daemon Affairs, the Legislacerator’s guild has sent me and my partner to oversee the legality of what happens here today.”

“Partner?” Karkat asked suspiciously, gazing at the unfamiliar woman at her side. Dave was still staring at her, grinning back as the woman ran her fingers through her long blue-tinted hair.

“Vriska is here as a representative of the other demons that Dave succeeded in breaking out of Hell,” Terezi said promptly, loving the uncomfortable atmosphere of the room. Only Dave was unaffected by the sheer awkwardness her presence caused. “She’ll help collaborate his story and stand as a star witness.”

Karkat studied the girl more closely, taking in the odd half-covered shades she wore that didn’t quite disguise the way the eye underneath had far too many pupils crammed inside it. 

Serket demon, Karkat realized with a jolt of shock. Vriska had been trapped in Hell with Dave? That’s how they knew each other?

Dave stepped forward to slap hands with Vriska, his movements relaxed. “Glad to see you’re doing okay,” he said, clearly relieved. “I kinda thought you were dead.”

“I could say the same,” Vriska answered, narrowing her eyes as she drew back the long sleeves of her denim jacket to reveal where one bare wrist glinted with metal and wires. “Though not all of me came along for the ride.”

Dave’s face fell as he took in the metal arm. Guilt was the obvious expression on his pale face. 

“It’s okay,” Vriska said, oddly comforting as she let the fabric hide the steel that made up her limb. “I was one of the lucky ones. You saved me.”

Dave sounded choked. “How’s … how’s-”

“Everyone?” Vriska asked, raising one eyebrow. “We all survived if that’s what you’re asking. We’ve been hunting for you all this time and I kept telling everyone that of course you made it out but they didn’t believe me.” She scoffed shaking her head. “But here you are. I always knew you were the best of us at staying hidden.”

“Everyone?” Dave asked, overjoyed. “What about Nepeta? Equius? Shit, Feferi even?”

Karkat had never heard these names before, but Vriska clearly did. 

“Everyone,” She confirmed, then frowned. “Well, except for one. Makara. No one’s heard from him.”

“Gamzee?” Dave asked, and he grinned sheepishly, like he was admitting a secret. “He’s fine. We keep in touch. The portal spit us out in the same place.”

“I thought it was something like that,” Vriska admitted as Terezi scrawled everything they were saying down onto the notepad she held, her expression manic. “I’m glad you found him. That’s one Sedim demon I don’t want wandering around unsupervised.” 

“What, Gamzee?” Dave laughed. “He’s harmless.”

Again, more people Karkat had never heard of before. He was listening to the part of Dave’s life that the demon kept hidden from everyone, a life he’d apparently shared with this Vriska chick. 

For the first time, Karkat was forced to think about those other demons that had been trapped with Dave, the ones who shared what he went through and understood what had happened in a way he never would.

“If you say so,” Vriska dismissed the idea with a shudder, then said without emotion. “Aranea’s dead. I killed the bitch myself.” She tapped the shoulder of her metal arm and grinned. “Though she didn’t go quietly.”

“I’m sorry,” Dave said, pained. “I never wished for that to happen to you.”

“It’s okay,” Vriska said, shrugging. “She was a disgrace to my species. She gave up her right for mercy the instant she started working for the Felt.”

Karkat began to snap the context clues into place. Aranea must have been the enemy Serket demon that had strip-mined Dave’s memory to keep him complacent and obedient. It felt good to have a name to attach to that monster, and it felt even better to know that she was dead. 

Did that make Karkat a bad person? Probably not. At least, that’s what he told himself. 

“Hey, Karkat,” Terezi winked at him. “I’ll admit I’m quite surprised to see you here.”

“Hey, Terezi,” Karkat said lamely, suffocating under the wave of awkwardness. “I’m glad to see you’re enjoying your new job.” He left out the part where she’d abandoned him to pursue it but honestly, this meeting didn’t hurt as bad as he thought it would. Terezi leaving him for her job was only the last in step in a freefall of miscommunication and fading emotion. He’d almost been relieved when she left him.  
And… Karkat still had Dave at his side. He wouldn’t trade that for anything.

Terezi raised her eyebrows at him. “You still can’t keep out of trouble, can you?” she asked. 

“Hey,” Dave protested. “I am not trouble.”

Vriska cackled as Terezi flipped over a page and began reading off a list of printed text. “Firstly,” she said, “it is a crime to harbor a wanted fugitive without turning them over to the law. Then we have the transporting you across state lines, breaking and entering, evasion of law enforcement officers, which is a felony by the way, need I go on?” Terezi leveled a very stern look at Dave, who had turned pale. “You, Dave Strider, have been nothing but trouble.”

“You left out the bit where I killed someone,” Dave deadpanned, then he seemed to realize something. “Strider?”

Vriska looked distinctly uncomfortable at the mention of Dave’s missing last name, but Terezi pretended not to notice. “Yes,” she said. “Strider. Dave Strider. That’s your name.” She waved away Dave’s apprehension with a flick of her fingers. “And forget the part about killing Lord English- that’s justifiable violence at worst, self-defense at best. You’re off the hook for that.”

The police chief spoke up, clearing his throat. “Also,” he added. “The department is not pressing charges for the evasion of law enforcement, and to my knowledge neither is D perusing a case for breaking and entering. There are no charges leveled against you at this time, and I don’t think anything new will pop up either.”

Dave still didn’t look pleased. “What about Karkat?” he asked. 

Abruptly Karkat realized the only charge left was stuck to himself. Shit. 

“Plausible deniability,” Terezi said, grinning as she shot Karkat a look. “I’d advise he plead the fifth on the count of harboring you.”

Karkat rolled his eyes.

“Oh, cut it out, Pyrope,” the policeman said, chuckling. “No one’s going after anyone here. This is supposed to be a happy day.” He cleared his throat as he looked at Dave. “I’ve heard enough to convince me that you are the real Dave Strider,” he said. “Your uncle and sister will be here shortly.”

“Aren’t they here already?” Dave asked curiously. 

“No,” the man answered. “They’re both still in Los Angeles. The Witch of the West Coast is standing by to warp them over for safety reasons.” He gave Dave a very serious look. “We’ve taken all the precautions we can, but having the last three Incubi on this side of the ocean in the same room is bound to attract trouble.

Dave said nothing, so it was up to Karkat to speak up. “There’s only three of them left?” He asked, shocked. He’d known Incubi were rare, but…

Dave didn’t look surprised, but he was still crestfallen. 

The cop nodded slowly, his voice gentle. “And there’s been some recent threats against D’s life, nothing he hasn’t been able to handle, but we’re just being careful.”

Threats? Threats from who? From the people that were still after Dave, these remnants of the Felt like ghosts of the past that would not stop haunting them? And Karkat distinctly remembered watching the newsreels from when D had been shot seven times and left to die on stage by a madman with a gun, the event televised live at the award show for one of the famous director’s newest films. Somehow the demon had managed to walk away from the attempt on his life only a little worst for the wear. 

Karkat wondered if Dave knew this or not, but Karkat rationalized that Dave must have been curious enough about his uncle to at least google him before the meeting. 

His dad cleared his throat loudly. “I believe we’re ready to begin then,” he said. 

The officer nodded, looking at Terezi. “Has the Law and the Legislacerator’s Guild been satisfied by this proof of identity?”

“Not yet,” Terezi said, sniffing in Dave’s direction. “Dave,” she croaked. “Can you verify that you’re in fact who you say you are and that you’re under no outside influence?”

“I’m not possessed,” Dave stated flatly. “And I don’t know how you want me to prove who I am.”

“Prove you’re an Incubus,” Terezi challenged, shrugging like it was no big deal. “I’m blind, you see, so I can’t exactly tell on my own.”

“That’s a bad idea,” Dave said immediately. “Besides, I’m kind of in a relationship. I won’t be unfaithful just to please some fucking law I know nothing about.”

Karkat gripped Dave’s hand tightly, his heart in his throat. 

Terezi just cackled, overjoyed at something and laughing at Dave’s expense. “I’m just saying to let the cops check your eyes,” she explained, still laughing. “What? Did you think I was asking you to seduce someone?”

“Fuck off,” Karkat spat, enraged at the assumption. 

Dave calmed him down. “It’s okay,” he said, removing his shades. He raised his bare eyes to the officer, just flashing them upwards in a brief second of eye contact that instantly had the other man sweating, who swallowed and then nodded, quickly looking away.

“It’s him,” the cop stated. “Nothing can fake eyes like that.”

Dave put his sunglasses back on and everyone in the room save Karkat instantly looked more at ease. Had they really been that on edge? Shit. 

The cop raised his radio to his lips. “Bring the in,” he said, the words crackling with static as he gave the order. 

There was a flash of light from outside of the closed door, bleeding green through the cracks in the frame. Karkat tensed at the sudden glow but the officers seemed unbothered. The door flung itself open and a woman with long black hair and glasses came into the room. 

“Jade,” dad said, dipping his chin at her. “It’s good to see you.”

“You too, Dr. Vantas,” the Witch of the West Coast said cheerfully, dusting the remains of green fire from the ends of her skirt as she peered intently at Dave. “Wow,” she said, faintly surprised. “You look just like him.”

Dave did nothing but shrug. 

“Alright,” Jade said, raising her bright voice to be heard from outside of the office. “You can come in now, it’s okay!”

Karkat grasped Dave’s hand in his as the door slowly crept open again. His heart was thunderous, pounding away at the back of his throat and in his belly. His ears were ringing. 

The door opened, and then Dave’s hand fell free from his in shock as a figure rushed forward and flung itself at him, faster than Karkat’s eyes could follow. 

Rose collided with her brother, sobbing as Dave automatically wrapped his arms around her. D entered the room more slowly, but every bit as eager to catch a glimpse of his formerly missing nephew.

Rose was still crying as she finally picked her head up to look at him, her eyes bare but an odd shade of violet, likely the result of blue-tinted contact lenses over red irises. Her pale white hair was cut short in a bob and her face was young and tear-streaked. 

“Rose?” Dave questioned, his voice shaking.

She nodded. “Dave?”

Dave smiled a beautiful, heart-breakingly perfect crooked smile that Made Karkat’s heart skip a beat. It was like watching the sun break through the clouds. It was like watching the walls of Jericho crumble as Dave grinned at his sister for the first time. He nodded. “Yep,” he said, his voice choked. “That’s me.”

Karkat could only stand back and watch as the reunion happened. His dad put his arm around his son’s shoulders, Karkat’s three siblings standing in solidarity as Dave met with his own family. He'd speak with Dave later. Right now, this moment, this fated reunion, was all for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of the fun family madness will be included in the nest update :)


	24. CHAPTER 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter almost the end is up!

Karkat watched with an aching heart as Dave hugged his sister, who seemed determined to never let go of him again. She was speaking in a flood, the words pouring out of here. “Dave, you’re not hurt are you? Oh my God, you’re here, you’re here and you’re safe and I found you, and, and… you complete bastard!” She raised her tear-streaked face to stare at him with narrowed eyes. “I was so close to finding you after you stopped by the police station for the first time, but then you ran! Why? Didn’t you stop to think about the repercussions of your actions?”

The accusation made Dave wince, but D stepped to mediate before Rose could really tear into Dave. “Rose,” the older Incubus said, shaking his head with incredulous intent, “don’t curse at your brother. I’m sure he had a good reason for doing what he did.”

That was when the irony struck Karkat. He was sure that the feeling wasn’t lost on Dave, being parented at for what was likely the first time. 

Dave nodded as the director came closer, staring at him through a pair of dark sunglasses that nearly matched Dave’s own. D wasn’t the beanpole that Dave was, but Karkat could easily pick out the similarities between the two of them. They were the same height and they had the same white hair though D wore his cropped shorter than Dave. D was beaming at the scene before him, clearly overjoyed by the sight of Dave and Rose together, having fallen into one of the office chairs still entwined. 

Jade was grinning so widely that it illuminated the crow’s feet around the older woman’s eyes, magnified by her glasses. She was holding tight to D’s hand, their fingers interlocked. 

Dave looked up at D, his expression uncertain. “D?” He asked slowly, as if trying to fit the man before him into his fractured memories. 

The other Incubi nodded. “That’s right,” he said. “I’m your uncle. Do you remember me?”

Dave looked away and Rose looked concerned. “No,” he answered. “I don’t.”

Karkat swallowed thickly past the lump rapidly building in his throat. He felt the beginnings of tears prickle in his eyes as he swiped at them with the backs of his hands. 

D looked at Vriska, who just shrugged. “This wasn’t me,” she said sadly. “I never knew you either.” The Serket demon studied Dave closely, gnawing at her lower lip. 

“I…” Dave started and then trailed off, his hands in fists. “They must have wanted me to think that I had no one left for me on the surface.” 

Karkat’s heart gave a shake at the words as the lump in his throat swelled. 

“Damn,” Terezi sighed and her pen stilled. Even she seemed affected by the sad story. “Mind if I ask you some questions?”

Or not. 

“Yes,” Dave answered, clearly unwilling to say more. 

“Too bad,” Terezi said, frowning, her pen stabbing at the paper. “I know that after you skipped out on the meeting with Police Chief Johnson here they contacted Rose, D, and Jade, who immediately tried to scry you. Any idea why they failed?”

Dave nodded and slipped his hand under the neck of his shirt to pull out the small charm around his neck. “Anti-scrying charm,” he announced. “I picked it up so that I couldn’t be scryed.”

Rose inspected the small talisman, frowning. “That shouldn’t have stopped us,” she said. “Those type of charms are too fickle to actually work half the time.”

“It’s real,” Dave answered. “And so far it’s worked every time.”

“Do people try to scry you often?” the police chief asked, apprehension writ across his face. “Scrying’s illegal without legal representation or probable cause.”

“Pretty fucking often,” Dave answered, then said darkly, “men from the Felt are still looking for me.”

Silence met his words. Terezi was looking murderous, her face passionate in a way that once might have made Karkat’s battered heart ache before he’d met Dave and finally moved past that particular heartbreak. 

“He’s telling the truth,” Karkat said, speaking up. “I’ve seen them myself. They’ve threatened me before, looking for Dave.”

“Karkat,” Dad said, worried, giving his son a look of hurt shock. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this?”

Guilt crushed Karkat in a sudden, crippling wave. If he’d opened up to his dad, this might have been solved months ago. Maybe this entire fucked up situation might have been avoided without all the bullshit they’d gone through. But the truth was talking with his dad hadn’t even seemed like an option at the time. He answered lamely, his voice weak. “You know, with Porrim and her job and all, I just didn’t think about it. I didn’t want to worry you anymore.”

Kankri, Kanaya, and Porrim scowled as one, their expressions identical. Dad just looked disappointed. 

“That’s why I didn’t show up at the meeting,” Dave said, looking at the officer in the room. “Someone tried to scry me that night. I thought it meant there was a mole in your department.”

The chief blinked, his face sallow. “The only scry I sanctioned that night was the one from your family after you didn’t show up,” he said, swallowing. “I never authorized the first scry.”

Karkat’s heart was pounding at the words. The clock on the wall kept ticking loud enough to echo in his ears. His fingers were trembling as he realized what that meant. “Officer,” he asked, his mind racing ahead to the worst possible conclusion with the skill of picking out the worst outcome imaginable that he’d been cultivating his entire life. “Who else knew that Dave had been here?”

“Myself, and the five other offices that were on duty that night,” he said. “We waited until morning to alert the rest of them.”

“And those officers are still here, on duty right now?” D asked, clearly seeing where Karkat was going. 

“They are,” the police chief said severely. “But you can’t think that one of my men let slip Dave’s presence?”

D tented his fingers under his chin, his expression completely unreadable. “Jade,” he called out. “I think we need to leave. Now.” His partner reached for his hand again, over speaking the officer’s words.

“Wait,” Officer Johnson, trying to calm the situation. “You can’t honestly think that-”

Jade interrupted him. “It’s better to be safe than sorry,” the woman said logically. “And I don’t know a safer place than our house in Los Angeles.”

“Will you take the rest of them with you then?” the officer demanded, his mustache trembling. 

Dad looked flustered, grabbing close to Kankri, who was nearest to him. Vriska looked baffled and Terezi’s face was cold. 

Dave’s head picked up at that, raw panic in his face. “I’m not leaving Karkat,” he said, Rose still clinging to him. She whispered something hissed into his ear and he shook his head, standing up.

Karkat reached for him and Dave grasped his hand tightly. 

“Nonsense,” Jade said, waving away Dave’s concerns. “I can bring Karkat along as well. I’ll even bring him back when we’re done.”

“Bring him back?” Dad voiced, anxious. “Jade, you think this is a good idea?”

“Sure!” The older witch answered, grinning from ear to ear. “It’s just a little teleportation spell. Those are my specialty.”

“Spell?” Dave said, scared but doing a very good job of not showing it. Karkat doubted anyone else realized just how freaked out Dave was. The Incubus was a master of the poker face even now. 

“Yes, spell,” Rose said, like it should have been obvious. 

“I don’t like magic much,” Dave stated, avoiding the topic as his sister stared at him. 

“No one’s going anywhere,” Johnson decided, waving at Jade to stand down. “This is a secure room. No one’s getting in or out without my say so.”

“Are you sure?” D asked, his face blank and smooth except for the single line of tension between his eyebrows. “I’ve been shot at in enough secure spaces to doubt that.”

Shit. Karkat winced at the verbal blow. 

“That was not in my department,” Johnson answered, glaring now. “But right now you’re on my home turf. No fuckin’ Felt member is getting to you here, any of you.”

“D,” Jade said, leaning up to press her lips to his ear, whispering. The older demon tilted his head down to her, and at long last he nodded.

“Alright,” D conceded. “We can stay here a while longer, but, I want a little more privacy.”

“Which means?” Dr. Vantas asked, prodding. 

“Which means a little less people to get in the way if something happens,” D answered. “Respectfully, Doctor Vantas, I’ve never met you before.”

“D!” Jade said, scolding him. “Don’t be rude.”

“He’s not, he’s correct,” Dad answered, slightly surly. “My family and I are here to support Dave.”

Karkat wasn’t sure when this meeting had dissolved into an argument because he must have missed the fucking memo. What he did know was that all of the adults here were being fucking ridiculous. 

“Listen,” he said, raising his voice so that everyone turned to stare at him. Dave’s hand was very tight in his own “Okay. Vriska, Terezi, cut out your Legislacerator routine for a minute alright? Dad, can you take Kankri, Kanaya, and Porrim outside for a moment? It’s way too crowded in Mr. Johnson’s office for all of us to be squashed in here breathing each other’s air like sardines in a can.”

Dad blinked at him, his gaze softening. “Alright,” he surprised Karkat by agreeing, dipping his chin to his son. “We’ll be outside in the waiting room. Call me if there’s anything you need.”

“But,” Terezi protested.

“No,” Karkat cut her off. “Out. Both of you.”

Vriska seemed like she’d love nothing more than to challenge him, but she followed a sullen Terezi out the door with his family behind her. Then it was only the three Incubi, Jade, the chief of police, and Karkat left in the small office. Karkat already thought he could detect some of the tension leave Dave as the room cleared. 

The Chief of police was staring at him. Everyone was, really. “Karkat, was it,” he asked. 

Karkat jerked his chin in a sharp nod. “I’d kick you out too if this wasn’t your office,” he said as respectfully as he could muster in this exact moment, which wasn’t much.

The man let out a laugh like he thought that was funny. D grinned at him, delighted. 

“So let’s try this again,” Karkat said, determined to make this alright. Dave deserved his first meeting to be something memorable and happy, not a legal and logistical nightmare with eight different people trying to speak over each other all at the same time. “Hello, I’m Karkat and it’s nice to meet you all.”

“I like him,” Rose said, nudging Jade with her elbow. “I’m Rose Lalonde, Dave’s sister.”

“I’m Jade,” the Witch of the West Coast greeted them. “Technically I’m a Strider now as well,” she said, beaming at D.

“And I’m D Strider,” D said, smiling slightly. “Dave’s uncle.”

“And I’m staying out of this mess,” Officer Johnson said, crossing his arms. “Just ignore me. I’ll witness from here behind my desk.”

“Well it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Rose said, extending her hand to him. Her skin was cool when Karkat shook hands with her, and damn, Dave might own his heart but he had to admit the other Incubus was the most beautiful girl he’d ever laid eyes on. Porcelain skin, a slim, curvaceous build that once would have had his eyes lingering in impolite places where the fabric of her dress clung to her. Her eyes were a cool shade of violet that didn’t affect him when he made eyes contact with her so Karkat hazarded a guess he was pretty sure was correct and mentally added contact lenses to the list of things that could successfully dilute an Incubi’s gaze. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too,” Karkat answered, and Dave was holding his hand, and for once, everything was going to be okay.

…

 

carcinoGeneticist (CG) was added to memo board [Strider-Harley-English-Lalonde Clan]!

CG: OKAY, WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?

[Strider-Harley-English-Lalonde Clan] is an active memo!

TT: Hello Karkat, I thought that since you and Dave are together it would only be right for you to have access to this group chat as well.  
CG: WHAT IS THIS? A FAMILY GROUP CHAT?  
TT: Basically, yes.  
TG: don’t forget that I’m here too lol! Cousin’s deff count as family ;)  
CG: HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE IN THIS THING?  
TT: Myself, you, Hal, Roxy, D, Jade, Dirk, Jake, and now Dave as well.  
TT: Wait.  
TT: Oh no.  
TG: you forgot to add dave didn’t you?  
TT: Leave me to my eternal shame while I quickly work to rectify this error.  
CG: WAIT I CAN PROBABLY ADD HIM QUICKER THAN YOU.

turntechGodhead (TG) has been added to the memo! 

CG: HA! I AM VICTORIOUS! HELLO DAVE.  
TG: uh  
TG: hi i guess?  
TG: seriously wtf is this  
TT: It’s our family group chat. Welcome to where the madness happens.  
TG: one sec im backreading  
TG: holy shit  
TG: dirks on here? like dirk lalonde? I know that guy- hes a dj that likes to hang out at midnight crew run clubs like me  
TG: Yeah! Dirky’s family too! He’s my older bro  
TT: I’m still angry that I was left out of the big family meeting. Who made that decision?  
TT: You did, remember? It was decided that the less people the better, both for risk reasons and to limit the degree of stress likely set on Dave.  
TT: Shit.  
TG: who are you?  
TT: That’s a long fucking story.  
TT: And its mostly bullshit. Hi, I’m Hal. Just Hal.  
TG: can i assume youre family too  
TT: That’s a pretty safe assumption considering the only person in this chat not at least distantly genetically or legally related to you is Karkat.  
TG: shit ive got more kin than i ever fuckin imagined  
TT: That’s a good thing, isn’t it?  
TG: its kinda… overwhelming  
TT: That’s why I thought adding you to the group chat was a good idea. This way you can interact with all of us in a sane, not-in-person way.  
TG: I woulsnt call us sane rose. Its chaos up in this bitch 27-4  
TG: ok 24-7 shit  
CG: OKAY. I’M GLAD THAT SOMEONE WAS THOUGHTFUL ENOUGH TO LET ME INTO THESE SECRET FAMILY SHENANIGANS.  
TG: wait a second whos jake ive never heard of him before  
GG: jake’s my technically not really-slash-adopted kid  
TT: We amoeba’d him into the family unit, single celled organism style.  
GT: Well it sounds rightly weird when you put it like that mum!  
GT: howdy dave! I can’t wait to meet you in person but I’m a little across the pond at the moment so greetings from new zealand :)  
GT: Sorry I couldn’t make it back to Maine on time with the rest of us  
GG: and when will you be coming back?  
GT: Soon.  
GT: I promise it this time. I’ll pop back for a visit before you know it  
TT: Jake….  
GT: i know i know i know  
GT: but enough about me! this is supposed to be about dave or am I mistaken?  
TT: Nice deflection there.  
GT: Shut it.  
TG: ok  
TG: this is really weird  
TG: like really really weird  
TG: but like a good weird  
TG: so  
TG: hi everyone- im dave and i think this conversation is years overdue

Karkat set his phone down, glancing at the chat that was still blowing up his phone. He was in class, Dave at his apartment, apparently not as asleep as Karkat had ordered him to be. It was the day after they’d gotten home from their three day Maine meeting and Karkat was back to being stuck in the senior grind. 

He normally liked his classes, but not when he’d like nothing better than to text Dave and this new insane group chat while in Upper Level Classical Poetry, listening to the teacher drone on and on about how Sappho’s ladies she wrote about were just ‘gal pals’.

Yeah right. Keep kidding mister- there were classical gays too, the bigoted fuck. Karkat began writing a short dissertation about the erasure of LGBT identities as portrayed in modern literature to keep his mind off of the group chat he could still feel vibrating against his leg from his pocket. If this were a professor he could get away with texting in class with, he’d still be on his phone right now, but as this particular professor was a tyrant Karkat decided not to push his luck. 

He snuck one last look at his phone screen to see a bit about Roxy laughing at something Dave had said, spamming pink smiley faces, and his heart fluttered. This was everything he’d ever wanted for Dave. This was the family he’d been hunting for, a family that for some reason had opened their arms to the Vantas-Maryam clan as well. 

Dave’s actual family relations were confusing. D was his blood uncle as Rose his blood sister, but that’s where the blood part ended. Those two were the only people Karkat had though Dave had, but in truth was that there were a plethora of other people just as much family to Dave, people like Roxy, Dirk, Jade, and somehow Jake, though that part still escaped Karkat. Something about Jade being his guardian and raising him? But Jade was also freshly married to D, a detail that was painstakingly protected from the media and ever-present paparazzi for their own peace of mind. 

It was more than Karkat had ever hoped to ask for. He’d been expecting at the most two people, not nearly ten. 

Since Dirk lived here in New York with Roxy, he and Dave would be meeting up tonight for the first time. They’d met before in clubs and on DJ gigs, but never knowing the other beyond their job description.

It almost hurt to see that the pieces had been all around Karkat all this time, and he’d just never put them together before. Shit, through Jane and John he’d met Roxy before. Dave had known Dirk. His dad had known everything. No one had been smart enough to catch on to the fact that the answers had been there floating around them the entire fucking time. 

The irony involved was indescribable, must like Dave’s had been when he realized his last name was actually his DJ title, the truth sticking in his mind just enough to make him want the word for his own with no idea it was his legal last name. 

Karkat listened absentmindedly as his teacher lectured. His thoughts were far away with the demon he loved.  
…

turntechGodhead (TG) has invited carcinoGeneticist (CG) to the memo board [Strilondes and shenanigans]

Only turntechGodhead (TG) and carcinoGeneticist (CG) can read and modify this chat!

TG: so karkat  
TG: what are you thinking  
CG: WHY WOULD YOU ASK ME THAT?  
TG: because i always want to know what youre thinking  
CG: OKAY.  
CG: I GUESS I’M SURPRISED.  
TG: why so?  
CG: I NEVER THOUGHT IT WOULD BE THIS EASY AND THAT’S NOT TO SAY THAT I'M UPSET THAT IT WAS, LIKE I’M ACTUALLY GLAD THAT FOR ONCE THE GRANDER UNIVERSE DECIDED NOT TO SHIT ALL OVER MY COLLECTIVE EXISTENCE AT YOUR EXPENSE, BUT YOU HAVE TO ADMIT THAT IT’S A LITTLE FUCKING WEIRD.  
TG: oh?  
CG: YEAH.  
CG: I UNDERSTAND THAT THEY’VE BEEN SEARCHING FOR YOU THIS ENTIRE TIME, BUT THAT’S WHY ITS SO STRANGE. PEOPLE BUILD UP THESE IDEAS OF WHO THEY’RE LOOKING FOR AND ITS HARD TO ADJUST TO YOU OUTSIDE OF THE SIX YEAR OLD THEY ONCE KNEW.  
CG: YET THEY’VE PULLED IT OFF FLAWLESSLY. IT’S SUSPICIOUSLY WELL DONE.  
TG: are you trying to tell me that you expected them to freak out more?  
CG: NO, THEY FREAKED OUT AN ADEQUATE AMOUNT BUT-  
CG: FUCK, WHAT AM I SAYING? AM I EVEN MAKING SENSE RIGHT NOW?  
TG: not really sorry  
CG: OKAY THIS ISN’T SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT ME. PLEASE IGNORE ALL OF THAT I JUST SAID WHILE I HERD MY ERRANT THOUGHTS INTO SOMETHING ELOQUENT AND RATIONAL. WHAT ABOUT YOU, DAVE? WHAT DID YOU EXPECT FROM THEM?  
TG: honestly?  
TG: a lot less than what i got  
TG: like  
TG: idk  
TG: but I guess I thought theyd try and force me to move in with them and destroy the life ive fought to build for myself here, but instead they respect the fact that ive grown up apart from them and that im my own person  
TG: i guess im just surprised that theyre more than content to just let me be me  
TG: and that includes being with you  
CG: ARE YOU SURPRISED AT THAT?  
TG: I was at first until I actually met d and rose  
TG: hey you know d’s real name is dave right? i was named after him  
CG AND HOW DOES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL?  
TG: good i think. its a nice thought  
TG: i hate that i cant remember him though. from all i hear he was such a big part of my childhood and it hurts to think that im missing that much more of my memories than i thought i was  
TG: knowing them makes me realize exactly how much was taken from me  
TG: i thought id only lost my parents that night, but I was wrong  
TG: i also lost roxy and jake and dirk and d and jade, all these other people i had no idea existed that were supposed to be this huge part of my life and it fucking hurts to think of how much ive lost  
TG: but i dont feel like that at all so its weird  
TG: im just grateful to get the chance to know them now  
CG: I KNOW. IT MAKES MY BREATH CATCH TO CONTEMPLATE IT, ESPECIALLY SEEING HOW CLOSE THEY ALL ARE.  
CG: DAVE, I’M SORRY.  
CG: WE SHOULD HAVE TAKEN THE TIME TO SOLVE THIS WHOLE MESS SOONER, BUT WE DIDN’T AND THAT’S WEEKS WORTH OF TIME THAT I CAN’T GET BACK FOR YOU.  
TG: karkat…. you didnt know any better than i did  
TG: we did the best we could.  
TG: so here i am, trying to mesh together with all these strange people ethat feel like family and it should be easier than it is sometimes, but theyre trying to make it better for me.  
TG: and i know that d and jade live across the country but its ok because jade can visit anytime she wants and ds practically glued to her hip and i still havnt met jake yet because hes off god knows where  
TG: i think jades scared of us meeting- she keeps putting off my questions and jakes never online so i cant ask him  
CG: SO JAKE’S A DEMON THEN.  
TG: most likely  
TG: that would explain why shes not his real mom  
TG: i even think i know what daemon kind he is  
CG: AND?  
TG: trickster  
TG: that explains why hes gone all the time and why jade doesnt want me to know quite yet  
CG: THAT’S A LITTLE EXTREME THOUGH. TRICKSTERS MIGHT BE RARE AND POWERFUL BUT YOU'RE A FUCKING INCUBUS. IF THERE'S ANYONE WHO MIGHT UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT’S LIKE ITS YOU.  
TG: ik its just shit  
TG: theres so much left ive got to deal with  
TG: this wont be something thatll ever get easier will it?  
CG: YES IT WILL.  
CG: IT’LL NOT ONLY GET BETTER, BUT IT’LL BECOME NORMAL. YOU’LL GROW INTO YOUR FAMILY.  
CG: AND I’LL BE RIGHT THERE FOR YOU THE ENTIRE TIME.  
TG: hey karkat?  
CG: YEAH?  
TG: thank you  
TG: thank you so much for everything youve done for me  
CG: DON’T WORRY ABOUT THAT. YOU WOULD HAVE DONE THE SAME THING FOR ME.  
CG: <3?  
TG: <3.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They'll be one more chapter after this, then a posted list of all Daemon types worked with in this story just for clarity reasons ~~and because its fun.~~
> 
> im feeling too many emotions to name about this particular chapter


	25. chapter the end

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh no, the end is near. It's time to wrap things up. 
> 
> Full speed ahead---- Here comes our happy ending.

Much like the beginning, this story ended with a moving day. Sollux and Aradia were there, helping move Dave’s turntables in one single unit, the wires dangling behind it as psionic sparks engulfed the fragile equipment in red and blue as Dave anxiously followed behind his beloved musical equipment. Karkat was carrying a box full of jars of preserved dead things, and something that had way too many eyes was glaring blankly at him from the top of the open box the entire time. He could have sworn they blinked at him as he set the box down in his living room.

Aradia and Sollux were bantering back and forth as Dave directed them to gently set down the turntables in the corner of the room. John was unpacking dishes to go in the cupboards. Jane, Dirk, and Roxy had formed a human chain to help move the bigger boxes while Sollux and Aradia fumbled with the heavier equipment. 

Right now Karkat’s apartment looked like a hurricane had torn through the center of it, but it was a look he was used to. He’d lived through a thousand different moving days but this one was different, was special.

Dave was moving in with him at last. 

Kartkat was overjoyed that Dave would be staying in his spare bedroom now, right across the hall from him and ready to always be there. The demon had semi-moved in earlier this week, but today it was official as his rent at his old apartment ran out. Dave now lived with Karkat and he couldn’t be happier. 

“Easy, easy,” Dave said as Sollux lowered the turntables into place, grinning. “Those are like my children. I put those tables through college. They’re on my medical insurance so maybe don’t drop them because I can’t afford to hit my premiums this month.”

Sollux flicked him of as the tables settled into place, taking up the entire back wall of the apartment. Karkat was okay with it. He’d compromise anything for Dave’s comfort and he agreed that the demon needed those tables, both for his job and for his sanity. 

“Isn’t your family, like, fuckin’ loaded?” Sollux grunted as he released the tables from his mental grasp. For someone who’d only been psionic for a little while it was impressive how much control he could manage. Sollux could probably lift a truck if he wanted to. Aradia was beaming widely as she stared at her boyfriend. 

Dave just shrugged, clearly uncomfortable with the question.

Karkat supervised everything, marching around and yelling orders as his friends descended upon his house. Somehow he found himself next to Dave, who surprised him by taking him by the waist and dipping him into a spinning kiss in the center of the living room. Karkat could barely kiss him back he was smiling so much.

John wolf-whistled while Karkat flicked him off, ignoring his friends in favor of focusing on how good Dave’s lips felt against his own. Some fast paced track of his was playing in the back ground as Aradia floated another set of boxes past his head and Dave tasted sweet as caramel and twice as smooth. 

“I love you, you know that right?” Dave whispered in his ear when he released Karkat’s mouth, the TV proclaiming “Sweeping victory by Porrim Maryam takes state by storm” while in smaller words beneath it were ‘new details in decade-old case leads to arrest of several prominent Felt members’. 

Karkat blushed red as a tomato, but he looped his fingers through Dave’s pale hair and tugged him closer, whispering back. “I love you too,” he said, then he cleared his throat and leaned back before they made a scene in the middle of his assembled friend group and also Dave’s new family. 

That was when his phone vibrated. He fished it out with a final grin as Dave, who immediately headed for his turntables like a moth to a flame. 

He blinked at the unfamiliar pester before memory kicked in to know who this was. 

tentacleTherapist (TT) wants to send carcinoGeneticist (CG) a message!

He accepted the invite and saw where Rose had plastered his screen with questions. 

TT: I’m quite aware at how uncouth I’m currently being, pestering you out of the blue like this.  
TT: Especially considering the fact that we don’t really know each other and that I’m asking for some information that is somewhat private.  
TT: Even so,  
TT: Do you think that you might be able to help me out?

He stared at the words and snorted before answering. 

CG: WHAT DO YOU WANT?  
TT: Its… okay, there’s really no way to do this other than to just come out and say it.  
TT: I want your sister’s Pesterchum name.  
CG: WHAT? PORRIM?  
CG: HER EMAIL IS PUBLIC IF YOU LOOK ON HER WEBSITE IF YOU WANT TO PESTER HER OVER POLITICS.  
TT: No, not Porrim, though I’m sure she’s a lovely individual. Kanaya.  
TT: That’s who I’m interested in.  
CG: YOU MEAN INTERESTED AS WHAT NOW?  
TT: I just want to talk to her, that’s all.  
CG: WHY? YOU’RE ACTING PRETTY FUCKING SUSPICIOUS FOR SOMEONE THAT ONLY WANTS TO TALK.  
CG: LOOK, I GET IT. YOU’RE AN INCUBUS AND MY SISTER IS AMAZING AND CURRENTLY AVAILABLE, BUT I’M GOING TO HAVE TO SAY I’M NOT OKAY WITH THE IDEA OF YOU SEDUCING MY LITTLE SISTER AND THEN LEAVING HER AFTERWARDS.  
TT: I know! I understand, okay?  
TT: What if….  
TT: What if I don’t leave her?  
CG: WHAT DO YOU MEAN?  
TT: I don’t know and its driving me crazy! I can’t get her out of my head. It’s like when I saw her in the police station she was all I could see, even though I tried my hardest to ignore her because I was supposed to be meeting Dave for the first time but I can’t stop thinking about her.  
TT: Please. It’s just to talk- I swear.  
TT: Though frankly it’s also none of your business who I sleep with.  
CG: IT FUCKING MY BUSINESS IF ITS WITH MY YOUNGER SISTER, DUMBASS.  
TT: Can I have her @ or not? If not I’m sure I can get it from someone else.  
CG: OKAY OKAY, ONE SECOND. 

Karkat walked over to Dave and wordlessly handed him the phone. Dave was quick to scroll through all the messages and looked up, meeting his eyes beneath his shades. “Can you invite me to this chat?” He asked, expressionless. 

Karkat did. 

turntechGodhead (TG) has been added to the chat!

TT: Oh God, what have you done?  
CG: LISTEN, IF YOU HAVE SOME KIND OF INCUBI QUESTIONS DON’T YOU THINK ANOTHER ACTUAL INCUBUS IS THE ONE YOU SHOULD BE TALKING TO?  
TT: Well its not like I can talk to D about this!  
TG: thats why im here  
TG: ok first things first ive already read everything you told karkat so dont try to delete the messages because it wont work  
TG: can you tell me what it was like, the first time you saw her?  
TT: Really? Like you’re not kidding or anything?  
TG: really im being serious cant you tell?  
TT: Not really actually.  
TT: But okay.  
TT: I saw you first, but she was a close second. I was trying my best to ignore the feeling, but then Karkat sent her away with his family and all I wanted to do was follow after them. It wasn’t, God this is so awkward to say.  
TG: try me. im an incubus too remember  
TT: Okay. It wasn’t even a sex thing. I wasn’t even hungry but for some reason she was all I wanted. Then I actually met her and now I’m in L.A and I can’t get her out of my head. I see her when I close my eyes, Dave. This isn’t normal! What’s going on? I thought if I talked to her again these feelings might go away.  
TG: oh no  
TT: Do you know what this is?  
TG: yes i do know exactly whats wrong with you  
TG: i diagnose you with love-struck syndrome. youre in love, sis.  
TT: You’ve got to be joking. I’m only eighteen- that’s far too young to have found my soulmate. D’s 43 and he only found Jade last year.  
TG: im 22 and ive found mine  
TG: listen  
TG: i know what this feels like. i know what it is to find them and think youve lost them again  
TG: i lasted over a week after seeing karkat without talking to him again, and then when i did contact him- he hated me.  
TG: what an awful feeling that was. it had gotten so bad i couldnt eat, couldnt sleep. i only ever thought about finding him, so this thing youre feeling- its only going to get worse if you try to ignore it  
TT: This seems so insensitive to ask in a chat with Karkat here, but is it worth it? Isn’t it easier to not deal with all of this? I don’t know how to be in a relationship. I liked where I was before- I liked knowing exactly where I stood with other lovers and knowing we’d never see each other again. I loved the freedom of it.  
TT: I don’t know if I want to get tied down so soon.  
CG: HEY WHAT THE FUCK? THIS IS MY SISTER WE’RE TALKING ABOUT.  
TG: karkat hold on a minute tho  
TG: i thought the same  
CG: WAIT… DAVE? REALLY?  
TG: because i was scared as well. i didn’t want a soulmate- i definitely wasnt looking for one that night when we first met  
TG: I thought it was some curse of our species as well, a luckless, loveless obligation id just have to live with now  
TG: but heres the thing  
TG: karkat  
TG: he’s…  
TG: …  
TG: … fuck youre my sister i cant tell you how great he is thats like illegally weird or something  
TG: anyway… its worth it. being in a relationship is worth it every single day  
TG: i dont pretend to understand what fuckshit magic is controlling this soulmate gig, but believe me it knows its shit ok  
TG: trust in it  
TG: and then kanaya will trust in you  
TT: That’s your advice?  
TG: thats my advice- now go talk to her  
TT: Karkat? What do you say, you must protest this at the very least.  
CG: ACTUALLY I DON’T THINK HE’S WRONG.  
CG: NOTHING CAN EVER MAKE ME REGRET MEETING DAVE, AND IF OUR KIND OF RELATIONSHIP IS WHATS IN STORE FOR MY SISTER I CAN ONLY FEEL HAPPY FOR HER.  
TT: You’re actually together on this?  
TG: yeah  
CG: YEAH.  
TT: Well.  
TT: What’s her Chumhandle?  
CG: grimAuxillatrix  
TG: now go talk to your crush!

tentacleTherapist (TT) has become an idle chum!

Karkat put his phone down as Dave did the same, switching over to something low and sweet on his turntables. The bass was humming in Karkat’s ear from the speakers, low and sultry. 

“Did you really mean that?” He asked, gnawing at his lower lip.

Dave gave him a look. “I did,” he answered simply. “I don’t regret anything. I’d do it all again if given the chance. You’re worth it every single day.”

Karkat felt his eyes watering as Dave tugged him down into his lap. His mouth was hot as he pressed kisses down the length of Dave’s neck, nearly straddling him. “Out,” he said, raising his voice. “Everybody out! Thank you for all the help but its time for you to leave.” He glared at John, who had the fucking audacity to snap a picture of the two of them together. Fuck not making a scene. He was past that care now. 

Sollux was snickering as he and Aradia pulled Roxy and the rest of them out the door, which closed with a bang of red and blue sparks and left the two of them alone. 

Karkat didn’t wait, his hands already under Dave’s shirt. 

Dave laughed, kissing him back. Karkat could already tell they weren’t going to make it to the bedroom. 

“You don’t regret anything?” Karkat asked him, mouthing at his earlobe so that Dave’s head fell back with a groan. “Not even moving in with me?”

“Nothing,” Dave replied, both hands on Karkat’s ass, surrounded by the disassembled bits of his own apartment transplanted inside of Karkat’s. 

“God, I love you,” Karkat said, moving back to Dave’s mouth. “I love you so fucking much.”

“I love you too,” Dave answered, kissing him back like he was hungry for it. “I saw you and I just fuckin… fucking knew, okay, it was some bullshit but I knew you were the one.”

“Only you can make calling our meeting bullshit and have it seem romantic,” Karkat said, whispering the words into his skin. Outside the moon was rising, spilling inky light through the back wall of windows that splashed itself across them. Dave’s skin shone pale as the moonlight under Karkat’s hands as they kissed, falling onto the sofa, shoving boxes of socks out of the way.

The moon continued to rise, and safe inside of their apartment that they shared, Dave and Karkat started the first night of their lives together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be posting the demon list after this, and I'll mess around more in this universe for sure because it's good writing practice and I'm attached to it.
> 
> Here's a sneak peek of some aside POV's.
> 
> Rose, D, and Jake for sure will get their own parts, but maybe others as well. :)


	26. chapter the end part two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the complete list of magic and demon types I promised because I just cannot let go of the idea of Daemon kind.

A Note on Human Magicians, Psychics, and Psionics. 

Thought to be mankind’s evolutionary response to Daemon kind, magicians appeared thousands of years ago to help combat hostile demons. Magicians are spellworkers and curseweavers, relying on magic to produce charms and cast spells. Examples: Roxy Lalonde and Jade Harley.

Psychics are much rarer and only began appearing within the last three hundred years. They possess telekinesis that allows them to move small to medium objects. Examples: Aradia Megido and that creep that stalked Karkat in the club. 

Psionics are new. There’s only been a handful reported within the last decade only. Psionics possess a much higher degree of telekinesis which allows them to move large objects with ease and have the uncanny ability of knowing when someone is about to die. Examples: Sollux Captor. 

 

List of Daemon Kind

Note: This list does not contain all 72 daemon types, due to most of them being either extinct or not mentioned within his story. Only mentioned or relevant daemon types will be listed. 

1\. Infrit demon: Characterized by thick black claws on their fingertips. Infrit demons have superhuman strength and are ranked as the most common and weakest of the demon types. They feed on petty conflict and once a year, human flesh. Examples: Dave’s original landlady and the club bouncer.

2\. Vampire demon: Characterized by glowing white skin and slim fangs. Vampires retain their superhuman strength, speed, and can see in the dark. They feed on human blood twice a month in order to remain healthy. They are considered common and also weaker than other demons. Examples: Kanaya and Porrim Maryam. 

3\. Yokai demon. A mute demon type that is mentioned but not explored. Feeds on vocabulary. Examples: none. 

4\. Fae demon. Characterized by a patch of randomized green skin that appears at puberty. They feed on either kindness or cruelty. The last of the lower demons. Examples: The Changeling Eridan Ampora and the desk worker in the Maine Police department. 

5\. Sedim demon. Characterized by black horns that grow out of their heads. Sedim demons are special and start the list of demons that are more powerful. They feed on deals made with humans, bartering away what people most desire. A more powerful Sedim demon can accomplish anything, if for the right price. Examples: the Disciple and Gamzee Makara. 

6\. Serket demon. Characterized by having seven pupils in one of their eyes. A very powerful demon, Serket demons are strong, fast, and cunning. They feed off of memories. Serket demons start the list of less common, rarer demons. Examples: Vriska Serket and Aranea Serket. 

7\. Trickster demons. The first of the higher demon types, considered to be extremely rare and extremely powerful. Tricksters are characterized by having two forms, their natural form and their glamoured form. The glamour is an illusion used to blend in with humans and earned them the name tricksters. Their natural form is very brightly colored and eye-catching. They possess speed, strength, faster healing, and can even float off of the ground for short periods of time. Like Fae, Tricksters either feed off of the highest of human emotions, or the lowest. They are great travelers and rarely stay in one place for very long. Examples: Jake English

8\. Incubus demons. Characterized by white hair and red eyes, Incubi are considered extremely attractive to both humans and demons. They possess the gifts of speed, strength, and acute senses far beyond other daemon types, accelerated healing that makes them almost impossible to kill, and the rarest gift of them all- command. With direct eye contact an Incubus can control any human and make them do anything. These gifts made them feared by humans, who have hunted them to the point of extinction. Incubi feed off of desire and sexual attraction. Examples: Dave, Rose, and D Strider.

9\. Cherubim demons. Now extinct, Cherubim demons were the rarest and most powerful of the demon types, being only two of them at a time that are destined to meet in battle and destroy the other. They feed on human souls and reports of their power are incomplete, but it’s said that the last remaining Cherubim demon was killed in Hell by a young Incubus. Examples: Lord English.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it- that's every demon type that was discussed within the story. 
> 
> I hope you had a good ride with this fic. We came quite a long way to get here. 
> 
> :)

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to be fun

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Locked Out](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15739116) by [AcrylicMist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AcrylicMist/pseuds/AcrylicMist)




End file.
